Weak And Powerless
by Shits and giggles
Summary: Post Breaking Dawn - It's time for the Cullens to leave Forks behind as they seek a new beginning as a completed family. But Bella's blissful existance is rocked when she discovers that she is not as invinsible as she once thought...
1. New Beginnings

New Beginnings

The bright New Hampshire city lights were almost blinding.

Even to my overly alert eyes that needed no help from the streetlamps that lined our path. We drove, _too_ fast, through the crowded streets. However, for once Edward did not seem to mind the clusters of cars that slowed our progress. He wound the powerful car through the angry motorists with the greatest of ease.

Behind me Reneesme was sleeping silently in the backseat. The quick glow of passing streetlamps illuminated her angelic features. Her expression was peaceful but the way the edges of her full lips pulled slightly upwards told me that she was dreaming pleasantly. Her growth was slowing, yet at the age of eight months she had reached the size of the average four year old. Her intelligence and maturity greatly surpassed that of any ten year old which showed on her wise and beautiful face. Her brilliant copper curls hung gently down her petite shoulders, resting lightly at her waist. I still could not bring myself to cut them, though I knew they would soon become a nuisance to her.

Edward had noticed my gaze and released his eyes from the road ahead, turning to match it. His face was a mixture of excitement and underlying nervousness that had transformed his features into a dazzling smile so stunning it sent a tingle of electric pulses down my spine. He turned his smile to me, very nearly taking my breath away.

"Not far now." He reassured me. His excitement was evident in his voice too. I returned his smile but not as enthusiastically. Don't get me wrong. I was excited. The thought of our own home, just Edward, Reneesme and I. A place where we could be a family, a real family. At least as normal as possible for a family of vegetarian vampires. The idea made me very, very happy, too happy to express in words. It was the people I was leaving behind, people I loved, that made me apprehensive. It had been hard enough to say goodbye to my Mom almost three years ago, but now I had said goodbye to Charlie too. Not to mention my new family, Jacob included. The move was the hardest on him. He couldn't stand to be away from Reneesme but at the same time he was tied to his pack and wouldn't - couldn't - leave them. Though they could all hear his pain, and feel it too. Instead, he had worked out that in wolf form he could run the distance in a little under an hour. Edward had also included a third guest bedroom to the house for his frequent visits. This had made both Jacob and me feel slightly better about the whole situation. Reneesme was not adverse to the idea either.

My thoughts must have been evident on my face because Edward suddenly exhaled loudly, taking his hand from the gearstick and running his fingers down the back of my hand, locking his fingers in mine. My skin tingled slightly where his soft fingers touched and an uncontrollable smile crept over my face.

The streets around us slowly became less crowded. The towering skyscrapers gave way to smaller residential buildings and homes forming large suburban areas. We drove until the gaps between the houses increased and dark grassy paddocks took their place. Edward turned off at a small gravel driveway that wound out towards an immense forest that bordered the edge of this side of town. We were still a few kilometres away from the house when I caught my first glimpse.

Its large grey, stone walls stood strong against the soft lines of the trees behind it. It had a medieval sort of appearance to it, especially the way the left and right sides of the building jutted out protectively like turrets. It was the high pitch of the roof and the large bay windows that lined every available space on the exterior wall, which gave it a more modern look. The elaborate, brightly flowered gardens and stone water features added the cosy touch.

"You certainly didn't disappoint your need for extravagance." I teased, but not sourly. It was beautiful, there was no denying that. Something easily out of a home and garden magazine. The perfect home to raise and protect Reneesme.

Edward chuckled, "If you're referring to the size then I must disagree. As well as the three of us, I'm sure we should be expecting many rather frequent visitors. You don't expect them to forget about us do you?" He laughed again, I did too. Mainly because my knowledge of my sister-in-law told me that she was at this very moment fighting the urge to speed her newly acquired Porsche 911 here to visit.

"Alice promised to wait a few days." He informed me, but his voice was not confident.

"Ha! Like she'll be able to wait that long!"

"Hmm...we should at least get tonight and tomorrow alone. She has enough self-control for that."

"Or she'll be too fearful of the wrath of Edward to show up for a week." I teased again. He replied with a playful growl and a flash of his stunning white teeth.

We were rounding the final corner now and suddenly the car was drowning in the presence of the enormous house. I had to twist my head to be able to see the top story through the windshield. It was _a lot_ larger up-close than it had looked from further down the driveway.

"So, how many bedrooms did you say it was?" I asked, while mentally trying to calculate how the large walls only held three or four bedrooms.

"Well..." A stunning cheeky sort of grin spread broadly over his face, "Um...six." His eyes flashed quickly to my face, obviously trying to read my expression. "But in my defence I do have a rather large family and I did include some necessary extras that most homes don't have." His voice was barely more than a whisper by the end of his sentence. His expression was preparing for the onslaught he thought I was about to throw in his direction. The car came to stop in front of the expansive wooden decking that lead to the large oak front door.

"Necessary extras?" I asked calmly.

"Ugh... yeah." His words came in a rush "A playroom, for Reneesme... and a classroom so I can tutor her, since schools obviously out of the question. A library and office were obvious necessities for our studies. Plus, there's more than enough room for any guests and plenty of entertainment as well... only a few luxury items." When he was finished he sat patiently, awaiting my disapproval. So my response shocked him significantly.

"It sounds like we have everything we need then," I greatly enjoyed the way his jaw dropped open and his brilliantly golden eyes opened wide in surprise. I giggled at him loudly and after a few seconds, his expression relaxed. "Thank you, Edward." I added

"Well that was unexpected." He remarked. Taking in my expression again to make sure I wasn't messing with him.

"So, can I go explore?" My question brought to his face my favourite lop-sided smile.

"Certainly." He was out of the car and holding my door open for me in flash. I stepped out and lifted Reneesme gently from the back seat. As I cradled her in my arms, I took a few seconds to capture in her stunning beauty. Edward came to my side and beamed down at his angelic baby daughter. Wrapping one arm tightly around my waist and brushing a stray curl away from Reneesme's face with the other. He kissed both of us lightly on the forehead before turning and leading us up the steps to the front door.

Contrary to the cold exterior of the house, the inside was warm and inviting. A wide oak staircase stood in the middle of entranceway leading up to the higher stories. The walls were painted the same brilliant white as the Cullen's home back in Forks but the light from the chrome chandelier threw a yellow glow over the paint. The floor was tiled with black marble that reflected the light on the base of the walls. To the left was a large wooden archway that led to a very large cosy looking lounge room that was filled soft grey lounge suites and completed by the presence of a large grand piano that stood against the far wall. The thick carpet and paint were very similar to that in the Cullen's lounge room in Forks. The room was lit dimly by an enormous open fire that crackled warmly against the south facing wall.

"The kitchen and dining room are through that door there," Edward raised his arm pointing to a door on the far left wall, "but perhaps we should get Reneesme to her bed first and then I'll show you the rest of the house." I agreed and he led me up the staircase to the second story. The décor was the same in the upstairs hallway as the lounge and I guessed that the same theme ran throughout the house. Edward led me to the far western end of the corridor and into the door to the left.

Reneesme's room was stunning. The white walls and thick carpets had been replaced with a soft pink that was bordered by a deep scarlet. The south and west walls held two large windows that looked out over the front garden and neighbouring paddocks. Opposite to the window sat a large four-posted bed; the railings were hung with a soft material that formed a canopy which was drawn around the mattress. Both the curtains on the bed and the windows as well as the soft duvet were the same brilliant deep scarlet as the bordering on the walls. On the left hand side were two large oak doors which supported a wide full-length mirror and I presumed opened up to reveal Reneesme's elaborate wardrobe. Further across the wall another door stood slightly ajar revealing a bright white, marble tiled bathroom.

"Wow." I exclaimed as I stepped further in the doorway.

"I can't take full credit for this one," Edward explained, "It was Rosalie mainly. Most selfless thing I think she's ever done." He laughed softly then crossed the room to draw the heavy curtains over the windows. A twinge of jealousy rippled through me as I remembered all the time Edward and Rosalie had been spending together lately. Even though I knew better the thought of them here, together and alone had made me crazily jealous, though I think I hid the fact very well. Edward had told us that the house would be a surprise for Reneesme and me and that I wasn't allowed to help with the preparation. So I was banished to Forks with my imagination running wild about my husband and the beauty queen that had once been 'meant' for him, alone and uninterupted. I knew I was being unfair to Edward, after all, it had been me that was unfaithful to him so long ago and he had never given me any reason at all to doubt him. It was my guilt at how I had hurt him with Jacob that forced me to brood silently while he was away, hiding my sadness and envy.

"You're probably right," I agreed, "but I must remember to thank her when I see her next. This really is extraordinary." I pulled back the curtaining on the bed and the duvet with one arm then placed Reneesme down on the scarlet satin sheets with the other. Her tight curls fanned and softly framed her peaceful face against the pillow, like a sleeping angel. The sight was so beautiful it was almost painful. Edward returned to my side replacing his arms around my waist and bending his head to rest his cheek against mine. We both stood there watching in silence as the angel slept. After a few minutes I tore my gaze away from her and up to meet Edwards.

"Ready to see the rest of the house?" Excitement was pulling at his voice again.

I smiled sheepishly "One room in particular actually." I said in the most innocent sounding voice I could manage.

My favourite smile stretched naturally across his face and suddenly I was being pulled from the room and into the hall again. Edward drew the door half shut as we left then gestured across the wide hall towards the door opposite to Reneesme's.

"I wanted our room to be as close as possible." He explained as he reached out his hand to take the handle.

"I like that idea too." I mumbled as he pushed open the door.

It only took me a few split seconds to take the scene in but it was just as beautiful as Reneesme's room. The walls this time were the same brilliant white as the rest of the house except for the south wall, which was a dark blood red. It contrasted very effectively with the gigantic, iron bed that stood against it facing out towards the large window on the northern wall. The chrome bars of the headboard twisted gently together, forming two doves with their heads bowed together in the centre of the bed. Their bodies framed by soft winding lines and curves. A thick duvet that was the same blood red as the wall and also matched the curtains that hung over the window, covered the bed. On the far right wall were two sets of white wardrobe doors framed in the blood red and divided by a another large full-length mirror. Our room also had an adjoining bathroom but this one was set in a deep black marble.

Edward dropped his arm from my waist and took my hand leading me to the foot of the bed where he proceeded to climb to the middle, lying on his back with his hands tucked behind his head triumphantly.

"So what do you think?" He asked slightly nervously and locking me firmly in his gaze.

"Edward it's absolutely perfect."

"It was quite difficult you know, to find the right one. You are rather hard to please." He taunted, giving a light laugh but not breaking my gaze. I twisted my face into an exaggerated pout and he laughed even harder tilting his head back against the pillows. I took his moment of weakness and quickly but gracefully threw myself at him.

To anyone watching I would have been nothing more than a blur of white skin, mahogany hair, cream cotton and blue jeans but he caught me easily around the waist just a few inches from his chest. My arms landed either side of his head, my face just inches from his. His smouldering golden eyes were locked onto mine, making my breathing accelerate instantly and my mind swirl incoherently. My hair fell down the sides of my face and around his like a curtain. I took a few seconds to take in his scent; it filled my head and made my more than perfect vision slightly hazy. He took full advantage of my trance like state, lowering my body slowly onto his making my face drop a couple of inches towards his but never loosening the grip his eyes had on mine. He had me by my very soul. If my heart had still been beating, I was sure it would have been jumping out of my chest with the sheer intensity of his dazzling eyes. It was overwhelming. Before I was conscious of the movement, my mouth was on his, kissing him affectionately, passionately. To stop would have been all but impossible, not that any fibre of my being wanted to stop kissing him. A vampires mind was ruled by desires and the desire for Edward gripped every thought, every urge and threw them out the window. I was powerless against him and I liked it. His hand moved quickly up my back to my hair, pulling me in closer to him. I allowed myself to remove the weight from my arms, which meant I was able to hold my hands to the sides of his face. Both our breathing was now coming in gasps but neither of us showed any signs of stopping or even slowing. His hands were running up and down my back under my shirt, sending spikes of electricity through my skin. His right hand dropped, running over my hip and down the back of my thigh to rest at the back of my knee then hitching it up to his hip. In one sudden movement I was on my back and he was on top of me kissing me with more urgency than before.

When I was definitely out of breath, I pulled away slightly, breathing hard. He moved his lips down my throat to the base of my neck, kissing every inch of skin along the way, then back up to the hollow under my ear.

"I love you," He whispered breathlessly against my skin, but my breathing had not returned enough for me to be able to answer him. I tried to tell him that I loved him too, more than everything in the world combined, more than should be physically or emotionally possible but all I was able to do was pant something that should have been, '_me too'. _Instead, I reached my arms around his back and held him tightly to me. My hands grabbed longingly at his back and I felt the material of his shirt pull away from his skin and turn to shreds in my fingers. I bent my head and kissed the warm skin of his shoulder softly. He returned to kissing my neck, my throat, my jaw. My skin tingled at every point that his lips touched. His hands ran across my ribs and hip, pushing urgently against my side.

At that exact moment his cell phone vibrated loudly in the pocket of his pants. He paused for the briefest moment then his lips turned their attention to my collarbone, ignoring the rude interruption. I patted my hand down his side until I found the cause of the disturbance in his pants pocket and removed it. My intention was to turn it off but when I saw the name that flashed across the screen I thought better of it. It was hard to prioritise my brain, seeing as my mind refused to make sense of anything other than Edward held strongly in my arms. I waited a few seconds to make sure my breathing had definitely returned to normal and that I was able to think straight, then flipped the phone open to answer.

"Carlisle? Is everything ok?" Edward drew back in surprise, at the fact that I had answered the call or that it had been Carlisle, I was unsure which, but his expression told me that he shared in my concern for why Carlisle could be calling. He listened intently as Carlisle spoke.

"Bella, Oh. Well I'm not sure," His voice was different, strained somehow. It was an emotion I had never heard in his voice before, panic. It was well reserved but there was no disguising it, "Its Rosalie, she's... asleep." Edward and I exchanged a very confused glance with each other, his eyes were locked onto mine as mine were to his. I was trying to make sense of what Carlisle was telling me but it was impossible.

"How?" I questioned

"I have absolutely no idea." That shocked me.

"Oh." Was all I could manage then.

"It was very quick. One minute she was perfectly normal and the next she was complaining of being tired, yawning and looking very... human. She was unconscious within minutes and has been for almost three hours now. I've done all the tests I can but I still have no idea why this is happening. Her body is still physically frozen. It makes no sense."

It took me a few split seconds to take everything Carlisle said in. Eventually I gave up and simply asked, "So what do we do now?"

"Well I don't know if there's anything we can do, Bella. I've never seen or heard of anything like this before. I'm concerned that if this happened to Rosalie we may all be at risk and I don't know if there's anything we can do to stop it." I was speechless. In a state of shock no doubt and lost in the emotion I saw in Edwards eyes; fear, confusion, concern. He raised his hand up towards the phone at my ear.

"Uh, hang on Carlisle. I think Edward wants to talk to you." I handed the phone over and he spoke quickly, without hesitation.

"Carlisle? Is anyone else showing any symptoms?" His voice was restrained, like Carlisle's, unlike mine.

"No, nothing." Carlisle paused for a moment. I could hear Alice's voice in the background but couldn't make out what she was saying. After a few moments he returned. "Edward, there's been a development. I'll pass you along to Alice, she can explain further." And with that he was gone, his voice replaced seconds later by Alice's.

"Edward? I can't believe I didn't see this coming. Not even a hint. Nothing. And now...I'm so worried about her." Alice's chime-like voice was on the point of hysterics.

Edward's was sympathetic and calming. "This is not your fault Alice. It's out of your control, you can't blame yourself."

"I should have seen. I should have been more alert. This is all my fault..."

"Alice you know that's not true." Edward interrupted her. After a few seconds she sighed in response and seemed hesitant to speak.

"I need you to focus Alice. What are the developments?"

Alice's was more controlled when she spoke again, slowly this time. "She's cold. She started shivering, like a human. When I put a blanket on her she stopped though. Also, it seems like she's dreaming. Her eyes are going crazy..."

"REM?"

"...Yeah that's it."

"Hmmm...I think we should come home." Edward watched as I nodded quickly in agreement.

"Don't be rediculous. You only just left and I doubt you'll be able to help any more than we can or have. You should just try to enjoy your new home, at least for tonight. We can call you if anything else changes."

"I suppose your right."Edward said, but he was still unsure.

"I know." She said happily and they said their goodbyes. As soon as Edward hung up the phone he fixed his gaze back on me. Neither of us said anything for a long while. Both of us searched our minds desperately for a possible reason, an explanation, anything that could make what was happening to Rosalie make more sense. My own theories were weak and very unrealistic. I thought maybe it could be just one of those things that happened to a vampire after a while, they got tired, and it made sense in theory. However, Rosalie was young, for a vampire anyway. If that were the reason then Carlisle of all people would have heard about it before, had it happen to him even. No that definitely wasn't it.

Frustrated by my thoughts now I decided to concentrate on Edward's.

"Any theories as to why this might be happening?" I asked hopefully. He sighed and rolled onto his back, gazing up at the ceiling and shook his head.

"Nothing worth giving any thought to."

"Do you think it could happen to us? To Reneesme?" My voice broke slightly at the end of my sentence.

"Reneesme already sleeps Bella."

"I know that! I mean, we don't know if Rosalie will wake up. What if she never does? What if one day Reneesme never does?" Edward rolled back onto his side, his body against mine and his head lay beside me on the pillow. I turned to face him and he reached his hand up to gently stroke the side of my face.

"It's very possible that there's a simple explanation behind all of this. There's no use in getting too worked up about something that we have no control over right now. Reneesme will be fine. In a few hours she'll be awake and then we can go back to Forks." His voice was confident but I knew it all too well, I could tell he was hiding something. I brought my hand up to his face.

"Edward when was the last time you hunted?" I asked, running the tip of my finger over the dark circles under his eyes. His eyes closed slowly as my finger passed under them and he took in a slow, deep breath. He opened his eyes again before he spoke. The apologies in them told me his answer before he could speak it.

"Two days ago."My breathing stopped.

"NO!" The deep circles were much too elaborate to be the result of just two days of hunger. He looked like he hadn't fed in weeks. My stomach knotted in horror as I realised the truth. He was tired and it was obvious. Obvious in the way his eyelids seemed heavy over his eyes and the way he quickly dropped his arm from my face not long after putting it there, like he didn't have the energy to lift it. How had I not seen it before? And why was he being so casual about all of this?

"Why didn't you say something?"I finally managed to say as my breathing returned.

"At first even I didn't know what was going on, until the phone call. I thought maybe it was just a side effect of my over excitement, or the long drive. It was disconcerting all the same."

"Why didn't you tell Carlisle? Or Alice?"

"I needed time to think, to get my head around it. We should inform them for sure. Though I doubt it will change anything. It seems like my fate is inevitable," If tears had been a possibility they would have been gushing now. Instead tearless sobs rippled from my chest, "Bella please don't cry. It's going to be ok."

"How can you say that?! You're going to sleep and neither of us know if..." I couldn't finish my sentence. I just buried my face in his chest and continued to sob loudly. How had such a great day turned into such a disaster? He patted my hair delicately with one hand and pulled my body closer to him with the other. He took another deep breath.

"It's true that aspect of this situation terrifies me. That I might never wake up, never see your beautiful face again. That you and Reneesme will be alone, but Bella, you must remember all of the obstacles our love has already conquered. We have survived much, much more than this. We must have faith that we can survive this obstacle too. I promised I would never leave you and I intend to stick to my promise. As frightened as I am, we must be brave." He pressed his lips lightly into my hair and I held him tighter not wanting to let him go even one millimetre. After a few moments he flipped open the cell phone that was still in his hand and began dialling. Carlisle picked up the phone on the first ring.

"Edward! I was just about to call you." Something about his tone made me raise my head from its spot in Edward's chest. My expression was confused. "It's Rosalie, she waking up!" An unbelievable food of relief washed over me as he said the words and I began to sob again, with joy this time. Edward brought his free hand around and cradled my face. He smiled at me, the relief was evident on his features too but it was mixed with the look of being warn.

"That's great. How is she feeling?"

"Still a little sluggish but she's improving rapidly by the minute."

"And the others?"

"No-one else seems to be showing any symptoms so far but it's just a matter of waiting. How are you and Bella feeling?"His tone was overly curious, I guessed he could hear me sobbing quietly in the background.

"Bella's a little emotional at the moment. It seems that I'm the next in line for a nap." I did not laugh at his joke; the thought of Edward going to sleep still terrified me. Even if we did just find out that he _would_ wake up.

"Oh I see. I suppose this is very good news for you both then, Rosalie waking up I mean. Certainly Emmett was very relieved. Tell Bella not to worry. I'm confident you will be perfectly fine."I could almost hear the reassuring smile in his voice. "I was wondering if I would be able to talk with her actually. There are some things she needs to know before you take your, ugh, nap."

"Certainly." He said passing me the phone. I took a few seconds to compose myself before answering.

"Hello."

"Hello again Bella. Now listen, there's some things that you need to be aware of when Edward goes to sleep. While Rosalie was sleeping she experienced some rather vivid dreams." Edward's eyebrows rose at this, it was no secret that he wished very much to be able to dream again. "Unfortunately, it seems that she was...unprotected in her unconscious state. Her dreams appear to be able to affect her physically."

"I'm... confused."I said as I watched Edward lay his head down on the pillows and blinked wearily.

"Well while she was sleeping I noticed a graze had formed on her arm and as she slept it didn't heal like normal, rather it seems to be healing like a graze to a human would. When she awoke, she described to me how in her dream she had fallen and grazed that very arm. I'm concerned that these dreams may be more than just that. They may be dangerous. Do you understand what I'm telling you?"

"Yes, of course. But how can _I_ help if Edwards unconscious?"

"Well Rosalie seems to think that she was aware of us outside of her consciousness. Much like a human can be if their sleep is light. She said she could hear our voices, like they were connected to her dream."

"Oh, right."

"I just ask that you keep an eye over my son. Try to keep him safe. Oh, and remember to keep him warm. That seemed to affect Rosalie too."

"Not a problem." I said nervously, grinning weakly at Edward who was becoming wearier by the minute. "I'll keep a good eye on him."

"Thank you Bella. Now if you'll excuse me I must go and check on Rosalie."

"Ok. Goodbye Carlisle."

"Goodbye Bella, and good luck." I hung up the phone and turned my attention back to Edward who was fighting very hard with his eyelids.

"Did you catch all that?"

"Yeah, I think so." He murmured quietly. "No taking risks, got it." His words were slightly slurred and run together. It was unnerving to see Edward in such a weakened state. For as long as I had known him he had never strayed from perfection, always strong and alert. Now as I looked down at him he seemed young in a way. Like a normal, fragile, seventeen-year-old boy, only with devastatingly good looks. All signs of maturity his years had brought to his features had been lost to the fatigue. For the first time ever I saw that he was breakable. I smoothed his hair with my hand kissing him gently on the forehead. His eyes fluttered open for a moment and then shut again quickly.

"It's ok. You don't have to fight it anymore Edward. I'm staying right here until you wake up."

"I love you..." He slurred. "See you in my dreams."

"I love you too. Be safe."

Then he was gone.


	2. Nightmares

Nightmares

Edward was silent for a long time.

I lay next to him in the bed, the large duvet wrapped tightly around us both, holding him close to me. The only sound was his slow, deep intake of breath. I understood then how he was able to spend all those nights with me at Charlie's house when I had been human. Just like Reneesme, Edward was a sleeping angel, beautiful and delicate. His sudden stirring was what first alerted me that there was a problem.

Initially, I thought he was waking, but he couldn't be. He'd only been asleep for about half an hour. Rosalie had been out for almost four hours. Never the less, his head tossed softly on the pillow, turning to the right and then back to the left to face me. His eyes were still tightly shut but his eyebrows pulled together slightly making his expression look pained. Was he in pain? I began to panic.

"Edward?" I took his sleeping face softly in my hands. "Edward, it's ok."

His head tossed again against my supporting hands and a murmur escaped his lips that sounded like my name.

"It's ok Edward. I'm here." I reassured him softly.

"Bella," His voice was slightly stronger now and full of panic. "Ged outa ere." His voice was almost a weak growl and extremely slurred. It was very hard to understand.

"Edward, it's ok. Shh..." I reassured him and softly stroked the side of his face with my fingertips trying to calm his tense expression. Suddenly his hand shot out in front of his chest then lightly fell to his side.

"Bella, run, please. Why aren't you running?" His words still ran together as one and I struggled to understand what he was saying. I watched his lips as he tried to form the words. "Bella, PLEASE."

Something was wrong, that much I was certain of but it suddenly dawned on me the Edward was stuck deep inside his self-conscious, in the middle of what seemed like a violent nightmare; scared and very, very breakable. My worst fears were coming true.

I had to do all I could to stop him from being hurt, to stop him from hurting himself. _But how?_ He was trapped inside his mind, seeing and hearing things that I couldn't.

"Edward, please, listen to me. What do you see? Who's trying to hurt you?"I pleaded with him. He struggled again weakly.

"Bella their coming! Please run."

"Who's coming?"

"The Volturi." The words rang in my head, taking my breath away like a punch in the stomach. Even though the way Edward said the words made them sound like 'da voltuwi' it was terrifying just the same.

My head spun, the Volturi were there with Edward, they could do very real damage and I was almost defenceless to help him. If they were out here in the real world I could cover him with my shield, protect him as much as possible but there was no protecting him from his own mind, his imagination. He knew very well the power of the Volturi and it would be counting against him. So I took his advice and used it against him.

"Run Edward! As fast and as far as you can. Now!"

"I... I can't…My legs, they won't move!" This really was a nightmare, in all sense's of the word. "You can…You can run…save yourself."

"Edward listen to me! They can't hurt me, ok. They can't touch me. I'm safe. You need to get away."I pleaded desperately.

"Go! Before..." His head suddenly jerked violently to the right into the pillow. He let out a short gasp of pain.

"Edward!" I screamed. Turning his head back in my hands I saw to my horror a large gash had opened just above his eye. Red blood was already beginning to seep from the wound and down his face. "No!" I couldn't believe what my eyes were telling me. It wasn't possible. Where was the blood coming from? Vampires couldn't bleed, we had no blood. The smell burnt fiercely in my throat, the way my throat blazed whenever I was around Charlie. It was most definitely blood, though I recognised the very faint smell of mountain lion amongst Edward's natural perfume. My mind wheeled with possibilities again but I didn't have a chance to form a good conclusion before Edward was struck again. This time his body arched and cringed. No sound escaped his lips but I watched in horror as his expression contorted and that same grimace of pain I had seen in the Volturi tower twisted his perfect features. The same look of agony that had been caused by...

"Jane! No!" I cried in vain. She was a figment of Edward's imagination, she couldn't hear me. The shock only lasted a few seconds but it felt like an eternity. Eventually his face relaxed and he drew in a sharp, deep breath; then began panting uncontrollably.

"Edward..." I began but I was cut off suddenly by Edward's frantic mumbled cries.

"No! Don't hurt her! Take me, please. Just don't hurt her! NO!" His arms were thrashing wildly but weakly against the bed. I released the grip on his head to restrain them. "Bella. No. Bella." He repeated over and over again. His head flung from side to side smearing blood down his hair and over the pillows.

Then he froze. His arms dropped and he stopped breathing. It was the most terrifying moment of my life. I couldn't breathe or speak. I thought I might die just from the ripping feeling coming from my heart. _Why isn't he moving? Why isn't he breathing? _For one terrifying moment my world stopped. It was then that I noticed the wetness under his eyes. He was crying. They were real tears, I could smell the salt in them. Like the blood coming from his forehead they streamed down his face and soaked the pillow below him. I stared at the dampness on his face completely confused. Then something Carlisle said rung in my ears. _'One minute she was perfectly normal and the next she starts complaining of being tired, yawning and looking very... human.'_ At this moment, in Edward's sleep, he was human again. It made so much sense. He was sleeping, weak, breakable, he cried, he bled...he was human. I released my grip on his arms quickly. Pulling away, I stared in horror at the deep purple bruises that had already begun to form on his wrists. I had hurt him.

My insides twisted and I suddenly understood how he had felt that first night of our honeymoon, I felt sick, I hated myself. Disgust coursed through me but my self-loathing was interrupted when his breath came back to him. It came back to him fast. He began hyperventilating; loud, violent sobs erupted from his chest. I ran my hand very, very delicately through his hair trying to calm him. I didn't bother to speak, his tears were too loud, he wouldn't have heard me. His sobs changed then, they became words, one word, "No." He cried it over and over again and the tears continued to fall from his eyes. I moved my hand from his hair to his face running it over his wet cheeks, his forehead and his eyes. _What happened? Had something happened to me in his dream_? That seemed like the most likely explanation considering his reaction. _Had I been hurt? Or killed? _I thought franticly. That's when he spoke again.

"Take me too." He whispered through his tears. Then it was my turn to stop breathing. My body tensed, becoming rigid with fear. _Was I hearing right?_ I listened intently as he spoke again, his slurred voice still barely louder than a whisper.

"Please, take me too. I don't want to live anymore." The words hit me hard, like a bulldozer. Like a million bulldozers.

That confirmed it. I had been killed, and very shortly he would be too. Only his death was real, and permanent. I struggled to breathe, to be able to draw in enough breath to be able to plead with him but my body simply wouldn't function. "Please... Please... _Please_..." He continued to beg slowly, his voice becoming more and more desperate. My eyes saw nothing but the look of pain in his face and my breath came back to me in one large sharp intake.

"No, Edward, no." I was suddenly demanding him. When I began to speak it was his turn to stop breathing, his body became rigid. He could hear me that was good. "Edward, no." Was all I was able to say. Then he began to sob even louder, throwing his hands to his head as if to shut out my voice.

"Please. Don't leave me here alive. Please." He yelled, but not to me. He was pleading with the Volturi in his head. "Please don't leave. I don't want to live." His voice was distant, defeated. _Were they leaving?_ God I hoped they were leaving.

"Edward I'm here." I pleaded. His whole body flinched at the sound of my voice but I continued. "They can't hurt me Edward. I told you they can't hurt me." He sobbed loudly again for a long moment but did not speak. I guessed he was trying to work out if what he was hearing was true, if my voice was real and not just in his head.

"I don't want to live without you." He whispered after a long heart wrenching silence. He still thought I was dead and my voice was all in his head but he was going to talk back anyway. That was good, I would make him listen - I had to.

"And I don't want to live without you so please, don't do this."

He hesitated before speaking again, "You're my life Bella. I can't live without you...I won't."

"Don't!" My voice was hard. To hear him speak like that made my heart tear like a thousand claws were ripping it to pieces. I couldn't live without him either; there are no words to describe the pain, the anguish that would cause me. "I'm not dead, Edward. Please listen to me."I pleaded again.

"Why is this happening to me?" He cried, bringing up his hands to cradle his head again. I could tell by the tone of his voice that this question was _not _directed at me but at himself. He still didn't believe that my voice was real and not all in his head so I tried again.

"I told you the Volturi couldn't hurt me. I'm fine. And I'm most certainly not dead. Please Edward, you have to believe me! I love you and I would never leave you."

His expression changed, like he was fighting something. A feeling or a thought, I was sure I knew what it was, I to had once fought against this emotion.

It was hope.

He was certain that I was dead and when this thought was confirmed and my voice drifted away, he didn't want to be stuck with the disappointment, the agony and the emptiness of that false hope.

I brought my hand back to his face, subconsciously wanting to smooth out the worry and pain from his expression but he flinched away from my touch and groaned.

"I watched you die. This isn't real. This isn't real."He shook his head lightly from side to side trying to dispel my pleading voice.

"Your right, this isn't real, but I am. You have to believe me. I love you."

"I love you so, so much." The sobs in his chest had relaxed slightly as he had been speaking but they returned then, stronger than ever. "Already I'm going insane without you. I don't want to live without you."

"You're not insane. You have to believe me. I'm really here, right beside you." I touched his face again. Once more he flinched away but not as much as before and this time I didn't pull away either. I wiped the tears from below his eyes and held his face gently. He was still sobbing quietly.

"I saw...they..." He debated with himself, unable to finish his slurred sentences. "You can't be real."

"I promise to you that I am here and this is real. When you saw the Volturi hurt me, that wasn't real. I'm not dead. If my time around vampires and werewolves has taught me anything it's to believe the unbelievable. I told you I would never leave you."

He struggled with this for a moment. "But you told me to run...and the pain...that was definitely real. You can't be here, you can't. I wish with all my heart you were but you can't be."The pain in his weak voice was almost unbearable. I wanted more than anything to take that pain away. He didn't deserve to be feeling so hurt.

"They were real to _you_. They could hurt _you _but the Volturi can't hurt me. I promise I will explain everything soon. You just have to believe me first. Promise me you won't go and do anything crazy. That you won't hurt yourself, please Edward. Promise me." I begged again

"I can't live without you Bella. I can hear and feel you here with me but I know you're not really here. This isn't real. You died." His fingers curled loosely around mine but he continued to sob and the tears continued to fall from under his lashes.

"I am real, I promise you I am. I will explain everything. I just need to know that you are safe. That you won't hurt yourself. Promise me." I squeezed his hand with the lightest of pressures, careful not to hurt him. I would never hurt him again.

"I...I don't understand. How is this happening? Bella, I watched you die."By the end his voice was no more than a strained whisper. I knew I had to explain but how? How do I tell a person who can't wake up that their asleep without freaking them out completely? He obviously hadn't kept his knowledge of the situation from before he had fallen asleep.

"Edward. What you saw, it wasn't real. Where you are now isn't real. I don't really understand it myself but I know that you will see me again soon and then you'll understand. I just need you to promise. I need to know that you are safe. I give you my word that I'm ok, that you will see me soon."

"How can this be right? I don't understand Bella. Where are you?"

"Promise me!"My voice was so full of desperation it shook.

"I... I promise..."I felt the pressure of his hand on mine tighten minutely.

"Thank you. I know you're scared but everything will be ok. You have to believe that. You're asleep Edward. This is all a dream. You will wake up soon, I promise. You just have to be... patient. I won't leave you I promise."

"Asleep?" He breathed. He was confused, so was I. He couldn't understand that he was asleep, even though he knew before he fell asleep what was happening. It didn't make any sense. Well I could worry about that later, when he was awake and could help me make sense of all this. I continued with my explanation.

"Like I said I can't really explain it properly. I'm not really there. I'm a part of your dream and I can't get hurt but you can. The cut on your head and the bruises on your wrists..." My voice was heavy when I mentioned his wrists. Disgust stabbed at me again. "...those are both real. You can get hurt so I need you to be safe. You haven't lost me and I don't want to lose you."

"I want to wake up, why…" He was beginning to believe me. That was good.

"This isn't a proper dream. You will wake up - soon, Edward. I won't leave you."

"What if I never see you again."Another tear rolled down his cheek as he spoke.

"You will wake up. I promise that you will."

"Stay with me."

"I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying right here until you wake up." I bent my head down and touched my lips softly to his.

"You feel so cold." I was only slightly surprised by this.

"I guess I feel to you like a vampire would to a human. When you're asleep you're very human. That's why you're able to get hurt, why you're able to cry and bleed." His hand moved slowly to his face then fell sleepily onto his cheek.

"I'm crying." He asked sleepily. I laughed. "What happens now?"Fear still rippled through his tone.

"I'm not sure." I admitted. "I guess we just wait it out together."

"You won't leave?" Fear stabbed through his voice again.

"Never. I don't think I could. You scared me to death. I thought I was about to lose you forever."

"I just watched you die remember." He shuddered heavily.

"Hmm true. Point taken, you win." I lay my head down on his shoulder and stroked the side of his face with my hand. The minutes passed in silence and I continued to trace the lines of his face with my fingers.

"Bella?" He mumbled sleepily, breaking the silence.

"Yeah?"

"I need to hear your voice."

"Don't worry I'm not leaving."I reassured him.

"I wish you were here with me." He sighed; his voice was almost inaudible now, even for my perfect hearing.

"I know. I wish we were together properly too, even though I can still hold you in my arms. We will be soon, don't worry." I kissed his cheek lightly and held him tightly for a long time, as tight as I dared because I was terrified of hurting him. Every now and then I would speak or kiss him gently on the forehead or cheek. The hours passed slowly and I watched the sun begin to rise through the trees and spread throughout the room. When it was still very early morning I left Edward briefly to call Jacob. He was more than willing to make the trip over to look after Reneesme while I looked after Edward. A part of me wondered if there wasn't something important he should be doing today, even though he said there wasn't, I didn't believe him entirely. This time I didn't care. I wanted Edward to have my total undivided attention, he deserved that much. I couldn't leave him terrified in his own thoughts. I returned to his side quickly after speaking to Jacob, having only left for what I estimated to be fifty three seconds. I had been very short with Jacob.

When I returned I touched Edward's arm softly and he called my name sleepily. The panic in his tone was obvious but so was the relief.

It was several hours more before he started to become unresponsive. When we would speak his voice would be so distant I could barely understand at all, and then eventually he stopped responding entirely. I was petrified but guessed that he would be waking shortly. It only took several minutes before he started to stir. We were both lying on our sides, our faces only centimetres apart. My arms wrapped firmly around his back under the covers. I had used the pillowcase to wipe the blood from his face but it still stained his hair and pillow heavily.

His eyes opened very slowly at first, then he blinked rapidly to disperse the sleep. I leaned my head forward and kissed his forehead lightly as he had done for me so many times.

"Bella." He mumbled softly, clearly still drowsy.

"Good morning. Sleep well did you?" I mocked. Surprised at how easily I could joke about something so very not funny. He smiled wearily anyway.

"Thank you Bella."

"Just doing my job." I joked again, "but don't you ever do that to me again." I told him sternly and ran my fingers down the side of his face where his tears had fallen.

"You really think you can get rid of me that easily. I'm here forever whether you like it or not." He teased and an uncontrollable smile spread across my lips. I liked that thought very much. "It's so good to see your face again, better than you can ever imagine. Hearing your voice was the only thing that kept me alive last night." He continued. He too was stroking my face with his fingertips. The contact of his fingers on my skin sending tingles through me, as if he was running electric pulses through my thousands of nerve endings. My unparalleled desire as a newborn took over very quickly and I reached my hand around the back of his neck, pulling his face towards mine and kissed him gently. He kissed me back equally as tenderly his lips pushing lightly against mine. My fingers knotted themselves in his hair pulling him closer to me as his hands explored my neck and shoulders. I was glad that his strength had returned to him, I didn't think I had enough self control to not be able to hurt him again as my craving got the best of me. After a few minutes the desire to be as close to him as possible was overpowering and I pushed myself on top of him, rolling him softly onto his back and crushing my body closer to his.

His hands slowly moved down, he was pulling my shirt up at the back and running them over my skin, sending tingles up my spine. The passion in our kiss built and our mouths moved faster against each other's, his lips pressing harder against mine.

When his mouth stopped moving abruptly I pulled back slowly, just enough to be able to stare him in the eyes looking confused. His breath blew into my face gently making my perfect balance waver somewhat.

"Where's Reneesme?" He asked slightly breathlessly.

I laughed lightly, ignoring his shocked expression as I did so and bent my head down so my lips were at his neck. "With Jacob." I said, kissing his soft skin with my words and then pushing my lips softly under his jaw.

"Oh." Was all he said. I kissed a soft line across his throat to the left side of his neck. After a few seconds his hands returned to caressing my lower back, pushing their way higher and higher.

I moved my lips down his neck to his collarbone letting my hair slide softly over his skin. One of his hands moved slowly up my side, across the side of my breast and up my neck, catching my jaw lightly in his palm. He guided my face softly up to meet his and kissed me passionately.

The next second I was on my back, his body pushing against mine. Our mouths were locked together and moving quickly and roughly. Edward's shirt ripped loudly under my fingers and although the act was unintentional, I continued to pull on the weak material turning his shirt to shreds and throwing it onto the floor. My hands moved quickly over his warm skin, feeling every muscle on his back as they tightened and relaxed. His belt was my next target. I gripped the back of it tightly in my hand, tearing it easily in two and then disposing it on the floor with his shirt. It was obvious what I was doing and Edward decided it was my turn to lose some clothing. He pushed his hand under my tight shirt, up my side and over my ribs cradling his hand just under my shoulder blade. He pushed his arm away from my side until the seams of my tight shirt ripped over his arm and he moved onto the other side, repeating his actions. Shortly, my shirt too disappeared leaving his soft, warm skin against mine. Our heavy breathing caused my body to move up and down slightly against his, our skin felt like silk against each other's. Edward slowly positioned himself higher on me so that his mouth was pushing down against mine and my head sunk into the soft pillows. It was almost impossible to concentrate on what I wanted my hands to do with Edward kissing me so passionately but after a few struggling attempts his pants vanished from his skin and piled, ripped and torn, on the floor beside his shirt and belt. His mouth left mine but his lips never left my skin. He kissed every inch of my skin, my neck, my shoulders, my chest and all the way down my stomach. My breathing became almost uncontrollable gasping that made my chest rise and fall heavily. This seemed to encourage Edward greatly and within seconds all traces of clothing had disappeared from both of our bodies and we were pressed together as one. For the next few hours nothing in the world existed except Edward. My mind was too unwilling to think of anything else but I doubted whether I would have been able to if I tried. It wasn't until the sun was high in the sky and beaming brightly that my thoughts wandered back to Reneesme, Jacob and the rest of the Cullen's. I sighed and lay in Edwards's arms, holding him tightly, my head rested under his chin and my fingers tracing the contours of his sculpted chest.

"I wonder where Jacob and Reneesme are." I thought aloud.

"Hmmmm..." Edward replied, obviously deep in thought. His fingers caressed softly up and down my back. "I should check in with Carlisle too. My experience could be helpful for him."

I sighed again and reluctantly lifted my body from his. Getting to my feet, I stared at Edward for a few moments, his perfect naked body sparkling in the midday sun. I reluctantly tore my eyes away from him and walked to the closet that I already knew Alice had well stocked, I was not disappointed. The closet was deceptively large, rows and rows of hangers lined the walls and each was stacked tightly. Much like the closet in my cottage in Forks that Alice had prepared for me. It took me a while to find some appropriate clothes to wear, shifting through strings of silk, satin and chiffon. When I had finally dressed myself I returned to the bedroom to where Edward sat, fully dressed on the edge of the bed. He was talking quickly to the small cellphone at his ear, his tone was not concerned or alarmed so I ignored his conversation and turned to gaze out the large bay window. I listened intently past the sound of Edward's conversation behind me until I found the drumming of running paws on broken twigs and the shrieks of excitement that I recognised instantly as Reneesme's stunning voice. They were moving fast through the forest to the west of the house drawing closer. I waited for a few minutes until the figure of a huge wolf appeared at the edge of the lawn, Reneesme sitting securely between his large shoulders with her fingers grabbing softly to large chunks of fur at the back of his neck. Edward's conversation had drawn to a close and he suddenly appeared behind me, bringing his arms around my waist and pulling me gently towards him. We watched together as Jacob slowed to a trot as he crossed the large lawn to the back of the house.

"Come on." Edward urged as he dropped his arms and took my hand towing me quickly out of the room and down the stairs to the entryway. The house looked very different during the day. The marble tiles and stunning white walls gleamed brightly with the sunlight that filtered in from every direction through the broad windows. Edward led me through the large lounge room to the set of double doors on the far side. A great black marble kitchen stretched out in front of me. The pitch-black cupboards and bench lined the white tiled walls and curved around to form an incomplete square. The kitchen was full of appliances, all state of the art, most of them black. The shiny metal and untouched plastic coatings sent a strong scent into the air, like new car mixed with polystyrene. To the right of the kitchen sat a large square oak table surrounded by high-backed wooden chairs. A bunch of freshly cut white roses stood in a tall vase in the centre of the table, the aroma was amazing.

At the back of the room were large glass French doors, we arrived in time to see Jacob, now human and clothed only in a pair of loose running shorts, stride forward and pull Reneesme gently from his shoulders. He set her down delicately on the small deck that stuck out from the doors, she turned and reached her hand up towards Jacob bouncing up and down slightly on her toes. Knowing what she wanted Jacob leaned down and let Reneesme lay her small hand over his cheek. He closed his eyes and a few seconds later she pulled her hand away. Jacob smiled and kissed her quickly on her forehead before she turned and skipped gracefully towards the door. Edward had already crossed the room by the time Reneesme reached the door. He scooped her up into his arms and she proceeded to show him all the events of the day. He laughed loudly as Jacob entered the room behind Reneesme. He looked slightly annoyed for a moment, then he brought his hand up to the side of his head and rubbed it tenderly.

"Yeah, that one hurt." He told Edward. "The kids got a good arm, that's for sure, nearly fractured my skull." He walked in past Edward and slumped down into one of the dining chairs still rubbing his head slowly.

"Thanks so much for taking her on such late notice, Jacob. We had a sort of emergency." I explained. I hadn't been able to give details about the situation to him when he had arrived to get Reneesme. I hadn't wanted to leave Edward, for obvious reasons.

"Yeah, no prob." He answered happily but his expression turned immediately to concern, "You got everything sorted out now?"

"Um... well I think so, for now anyway." I told him, his question got me thinking again about what had caused Edward and Rosalie to fall asleep.

"So what was wrong anyway?" He asked, interrupting my thoughts. "Nothing bad I hope."

I opened my mouth to speak but Edward answered first. "I think Bella's slightly wrong in her assessment; I don't believe that we are safe at the moment. You see last night something caused both Rosalie and I to fall asleep. As you know we don't sleep, more to the point we _can't _sleep and not even Carlisle has heard of this happening before."

Jacob's jaw had dropped slightly as Edward spoke "Hell. That's some crazy stuff! And you have no idea why it happened?" His voice was shocked as he looked towards Edward for more answers.

"At this point we have no idea, it's very strange. Even stranger is that we were extremely venerable in our unconscious states. It seems we can come to harm inside our subconscious and the harm is manifested onto our physical bodies." He lifted one hand from around Reneesme and brushed his hair aside to reveal the deep purple bruise and substantial cut on his forehead.

Jacob made a confused face at Edward's injury then swore quietly under his breath. "That's messed up."

Reneesme moved her hand upwards and stroked the side of Edwards face sympathetically her eyes were glued to the cut under Edwards fringe.

"Daddy's going to be ok." He assured her, and kissed her forehead lightly. She seemed unconvinced however by Edwards reassuring words and turned her face into his chest, pulling her small arms around to hug him. He rubbed her back gently and placed his cheek on the top of her head.

I stood quietly in the entranceway between the benches in the kitchen my eyes fixated on Edward and Reneesme embracing in the sunlight that beamed in through the French doors. They were like a picture from a fairytale, two angels holding each other lovingly and shimmering brightly in the sun's golden rays. The sound of Jacobs stomach growling impatiently suddenly interrupted my thoughts. He brought his hand up to pat his flat stomach and laughed embarrassedly.

Reneesme giggled into Edwards chest too as he raised his head from hers and turned to Jacob. "The kitchen's well stocked, feel free to help yourself." Jacob didn't need to be told twice. He was halfway to the fridge before Edward had even finished his sentence.


	3. Visitors

Visitors

Jacob stayed for the rest of the afternoon.

His reluctance to leave Reneesme was obvious. His mood became gradually more sombre as the afternoon dragged on, though he put on a brave face for Reneesme not allowing her to see the sadness in his eyes as they played together in the backyard. When the sun finally set, he announced that he would have to return to La Push, as it was his turn on guard tonight and slowly loped out the back door.

He had arranged a schedule with the rest of the pack to spend two days on then one day with Reneesme. I doubted whether the rest of the pack would have had any objections to this, when Jacob suffered they all did, they would all feel his pain at having to be away from Reneesme, besides the fact that none of them wanted to see Jacob in so much distress. I felt a twinge of guilt at the fact that I was the one taking her away from him, but he had a life to live and so did we. Staying in Forks for too much longer would be dangerous. Neither Edward nor I were aging for a start, while Reneesme continued to age at an alarming rate. Not to mention the fact that my face now resembled very little of my former human body, something I thought would be very difficult to explain to everybody in town.

The rest of my new family were preparing for the move to New Hampshire shortly too. Though Carlisle felt obligated to wait a couple of weeks at the hospital so that they were able to find a replacement, not that any doctor in the whole of America, and most likely the whole world, had his skill or expertise. The Cullen's had spent enough time in Forks and it was time for them to move on before suspicion arose about their unchanging appearances. It would take Emmett, Edward, Japer and Carlisle only two weeks to build the new home that Esme, Rosalie and Alice had already designed. However, they would need a place to stay in the mean time, for which purpose Edward had offered our new home. I guessed that this was a contributing factor to Carlisle's decision to stay in Forks for the extra few weeks. To allow the three of us time to settle in and some much needed alone time for Edward and I, which I was grateful for. But under the present circumstances I wanted nothing more than for my family to be back together.

"We should ring Carlisle and update him," I suggested to Edward as we watched Jacob lope grimly back into the forest. "He should know everything so that we can figure out what we're up against."

Edward nodded slowly, looking down at Reneesme who was gently running her fingers around the edge of his freshly torn skin.

"Reneesme honey, how about you take your mother upstairs, and show her the new wardrobe that Alice has put together for you?" He suggested lightly to her, taking her hand from his forehead and teasing his hair so that it covered the cut.

I knew he didn't want her to overhear the conversation her was about to have. He didn't want to frighten her with the retelling he would have to give to Carlisle of his near death experience earlier that morning, and to be honest _I_ really didn't want to have to relive it either – maybe he sensed that.

Reneesme's face lit up instantly and she sprung from Edward's arms and skipped cheerfully towards me, grabbing my hand in her tiny one and pulling me after her. She led me up the stairs, bouncing up them two at a time. I heard Edward's fingers dialling the numbers on the keypad of his cellphone from the kitchen and swept her up in my arms so that we could escape to the far end of the house that much faster.

As was expected Reneesme's wardrobe was stacked from floor to ceiling with racks and racks of beautiful dresses, skirts, coats, sweaters and shoes. I stood gaping at the garments as Reneesme quickly dressed into a stunning deep rich purple dress that flared out from her waist and tied around the middle with a wide white ribbon. I followed her back out of the elaborate wardrobe into her room where she twirled and spun around the room with more grace than the world's most skilled ballerina. She giggled loudly and sung a meaningless tune as she spun circles around me. Her bouncing copper curls fanned out with her skirt as she twirled and a stunning grin, that mimicked Edwards dazzling smile, spread widely across her elated face. She looked amazing, I took my breath away. I swept her up in my arms and spun her around in air. She spread her arms widely and screamed with delight.

After only a few minutes I heard Edward's presence as he walked into the room, and turned to see him leaning casually against the door frame, watching us spellbound. His face glowed with adoration and his eyes sparkled with affection.

We stopped spinning and Reneesme flung her warm arms around my neck and hugged me tightly. Edward swept across the room and joined us. Wrapping both Reneesme and I in his arms and kissing us both adoringly on the top of our heads.

"What did Carlisle say?" I asked as I leaned my head against his chest.

"He was very concerned, as you would expect. He's never heard of anything like this before," he ran his fingers softly down Reneesme's hair. "It doesn't make any sense, but he is trying to get in contact with anyone who might have any information for us. Unfortunately, it's possible that the only ones who could be of any assistance to us could be…"

"The Volturi." I finished his sentence, feeling a chill rise through my body.

Reneesme pulled a face then lay her head back down on my chest. I felt Edward's hold tighten around us.

"We should go back to Forks," I whispered softly to him after a cold silence.

"Hmm, I suggested that to Carlisle too. He disagreed though; he thinks we should be here enjoying our new home."

"How can we enjoy it, with all this going on?" I said angrily, lifting my head to look him in the eyes.

He smiled his crooked smile down at me. "Don't worry love, I agree with you." He paused, "That's why Carlisle, Esme and the others should arrive here before morning."

His reassurance washed through me and I was immediately comforted. As a family, we could survive anything. Look at how much we had endured already.

Reneesme's head rose quickly from my chest, her face bright and excited again. "Aunty Rose is coming?" She asked in her brilliant high pitched voice.

"She'll be here when you wake," He told her.

A glittering smile spread broadly across her face, her eyes widened with excitement. She wriggled herself free from our arms and began to twirl around the room again, laughing happily like before.

Like promised the rest of the Cullen family arrived an hour before sunrise. As no-one was sure how long they were staying, they all carried large amounts of luggage – Alice had the boot of her Porsche jam packed as well as the back seat filled to the roof. Jasper just rolled his eyes as we all helped to unload her bags.

"Sorry we took so long," Carlisle apologised, as Edward and I showed him to his and Esme's room at the far end of the second floor corridor, "I had to talk to the hospital and excuse myself. Rosalie and Alice also ran down to the reservation to let Jacob and the rest of the pack know that we would be away for an unknown period of time."

The bond between the Cullen's and the wolves was strong but Carlisle felt it essential not to bring any strain to the relationship. It was a part of Carlisle's nature to avoid conflict at all costs. Jake and Seth were like part of the Cullen family now, however other members of the pack, like Sam and Leah were having a tough time adjusting.

Since Reneesme was still sleeping Edward and I left the others alone to unpack and settle in, retreating into our bedroom, Edward led me in and closed the door behind us. I wasn't tired but I lay down on the bed anyway. Edward joined me a second later; I rolled on my side and lay my head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around my back, holding me closer to him.

"What are you thinking Bella?" He asked in a concerned voice.

I sighed. "I was just thinking about our whole situation."

He was silent, waiting for me to continue.

I took in a deep, unnecessary breath before I spoke again, feeling the empty sensation in my chest that had once been the sustainment of my life. "Before Reneesme, and before I became a vampire, I always believed that once I had changed our problems would be over. I wouldn't be vulnerable anymore. I truly believed nothing else would threaten my happy little existence. But first the Volturi and now this… It makes me doubt everything."

Edward tightened him arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer and laying his cheek on the top of my head, he gave a short, soft laugh. "That's how I felt – until I met you." He kissed the top of my head. "We're going to work this out, Bella. We're going to be fine, all of us."

"You don't know that," I accused.

He paused. "No, I don't. But I do know that everyone here is going to do everything in their power to keep this family safe." He kissed my hair softly again.

We lay there just holding each other for a long time. His fingers twisted in and out of my hair while I was lost deep in my troubled thoughts. Eventually I turned my head to look Edward but whatever I was about to say was suddenly forgotten when I saw the look in his eyes. They were troubled and concerned. He fought hard to conceal it from me but I had already seen.

"Edward, what is it?" I asked, pushing myself up onto my elbow to look him straight in the face.

"It's nothing Bella," he said, turning his face away to gaze out the window at the rising sun.

I placed my hand on his cheek, pulling his focus back to me. "No, it's not nothing. What's wrong?" I said in my best stern voice.

He sighed again. "Carlisle managed to get a hold of a few old friends, but they've never heard of anything like this before either." He said in a flat tone.

"Oh," I said emotionlessly before sinking back down to lay on his chest again. The horrible knot that I had in my stomach since the moment I had noticed the dark circles around Edwards eyes tightened again, I felt sick. Why us? Why now? This was meant to be the happiest time of or lives, or existences. Newly married and starting a family and a new life. It just wasn't fair. Where we being punished for something? Perhaps Edward was right, perhaps we were damned. Maybe my soul had been lost…

What was I thinking! Edward, Carlisle, Esme, Alice… this whole family was the warmest and most good hearted people I had ever met and was probably ever likely to meet. And Reneesme - my sweet and innocent Reneesme…it just wasn't right. If that was the case, and we were being punished for who we were, then there was something seriously wrong with the world.

I sat up, frustrated.

"Bella," Edward started to say. I got up off the bed and stalked to the window. The forest surrounding the house was still, peaceful and quiet. Edward was suddenly behind me, his arms wrapped around me. I turned in his arms to face him. He watched me concernedly, eye filled with worry.

"I just need to get out, clear my head," I told him slowly. I pulled my eyes away from his and down to his chest. "I'm going for a run, I'll be back shortly, I promise." I stretched up on my toes, and pushed my lips into his. When I pulled away I saw that his eyes were hurting. He didn't stop me leaving though, and seconds later I was running into the dense bush on the south side of the house. I felt the cool air on my face, it was nice and refreshing. It made my clothes ruffle around my body like soft waves.

I couldn't concentrate on where I was running, not that I had to. My mind was spinning around and around in confusing and frustrating little circles.

There had to be an explanation for all this. I felt like it was just staring me in the face, only I couldn't see it.

But what did I know anyway? I was effectively still a new born, even my eyes hadn't changed completely yet. They still held an orange glow that frightened and disgusted me.

Not even Carlisle could work this out. How could I be of any use? Just like my old human days I felt weak. I couldn't even care for my own family. Like always I was just a bystander while the people around me got hurt.

That day with the Volturi, as awful as it had been, had also given me some self worth. For once I had been of some value. I had been the one to save the day. It had been my shield that had protected the one's that I loved from Jane and Alec. And now here I was back to square one. I was no use at all.

Again I began to question why Edward had fallen in love with me - useless, pathetic, weak, plain me. I had nothing within me to draw or tie him to me, I was nothing but hopeless and needy. All I did was hurt him… like I was hurting him now.

I remembered the pained look he had had in his eyes before I left. It would be just like him to blame himself for something like this, to make this all his fault. I remembered how that had hurt me in the past, to see him so sad and beating himself up. How frustrating it had been as I tried unsuccessfully to ease the blame he forced upon himself. The brooding silences, the distance I felt. Now I was doing just that to him.

I sighed and slowed down. I wasn't being fair, he needed me and I had run away.

I was about to turn and head back to the house when something caught my attention, a pounding noise in the distance.

It only took me a split second to recognise the sound. Running wolf feet.

I waited for a few minutes till the thud of the wolfs paws on the ground softened and eventually stopped, then a few moments later Jacob came strolling out of a line of bushes a hundred yards ahead of me, wearing nothing but a rugged pair of shorts.

"Hey Bella!" He called, wearing the confident smile that had once made my heart flutter. "What brings you out here?" He asked as he strolled casually over to me.

I shrugged. "You know, just this and that. I wanted to clear my head mainly."

"Oh, the sleeping thing right?" He asked curiously, as we started casually walking back towards the house.

"Yeah, sort of," I changed the subject quickly, "so what brings you these ways? We didn't expect to see you for another couple of days."

"Well actually that's just what I was wanting to talk to you all about, the thing with Edward and Rosalie," No such luck in the subject change department.

"What about it?"

"Well I was going to wait until I could tell you all together but I suppose Edwards probably already pulled it out of my head, so I might as well tell you now." He paused and thought for a moment before continuing. "Well you said that Edward and Rosalie both just sort of fell asleep right? Like completely out of the blue?"

"Yes. Why? What are you getting at Jake?" My tone was a little too harsh from all the pent up frustration.

"Well you remember how it was my night to be on patrol last night right?" I nodded. "Right, well I was about to take over from Leah, I had just changed and was searching for her. Only when I went inside her head I saw that she was attacking Emily."

I stopped dead in my tracks and gasped. She wouldn't! No matter how much Emily and Sam had hurt her she wound never, would she? A broken heart can make you do crazy things…

He held up a finger. "Wait, just let me finish. Well I couldn't believe what I was seeing so I raced over to Sam and Emily's house only to find them both fast asleep and Leah nowhere in sight. Only in my mind I could still see Leah ripping Emily into pieces."

"What..." I began to ask again, but he held up a finger once more.

"Anyway, I woke Sam up and got him to change to. He couldn't believe what he was seeing either. As you would expect it shook him up quite a bit. Well after Sam had calmed down a little we managed to track down her scent and followed it out to the boundary, only when we found her she was out cold. We couldn't wake her up no matter what we did."

My mouth hung open. What was going on here!

"This makes no sense!" I cried in frustration.

"You're telling me," he said. "Well she finally woke up after a couple of hours but has no clue what happened. She doesn't remember a thing."

"We need to get back to the others," I told him, and without waiting for his answer I turned and ran as fast as I could.

A minute later I burst through the door of the house, with Jacob a few hundred metres behind me.

Everybody was already gathered in the lounge room. Alice and Jasper were sitting on the two-seater couch talking in very fast voices. Rosalie sat on the floor with Reneesme on her lap, there was a few dolls lying on the floor in front of them which Rosalie was staring at but was not really paying any attention to. While Reneesme looked wearily around at everyone's confusing expressions with her own sleepy and worried look on her face. Emmet and Esme sat beside them on the three-seater couch, looking up at Carlisle, who was staring at Edward, who was pacing backwards and forwards in front of the large window at the front of the room.

I stopped Edward, mid pace. Placing my hands on the tops of his arms and staring into his bothered eyes. After a few seconds he took a deep breath and relaxed his posture.

"I'm sorry about before," I told him sincerely.

His head leaned to the side and he looked at me questioningly.

"I shouldn't have run off, it wasn't fair." I clarified.

His eyes instantly softened and he pulled me into him, hugging me tightly. I knew at once that all had been forgiven.

After a few moments I drew back, just enough so that I could see his face, his eyes met mine with a worried gaze.

"What does this mean?" I asked him.

He shook his head slowly, "I have no idea."

I ran my hand down his face, wanting to dispel the distressing emotions I saw in his eyes, emotions that I knew would be reflected in mine.

I turned to Carlisle.

"Any ideas?" I asked, without hope.

"Unfortunately no," he sighed. "Never, in three hundred years…" he muttered, mainly to himself than anyone else.

"Both Edward, Leah and I were all in completely different places when this happened," Rosalie said in a distant voice, "so whatever it is, I don't think it has anything to do with location."

"Or time of day," Jasper added.

"Ok, well we know that Rosalie was just sitting at home when she went under, and Leah was on patrol wasn't she?" Carlisle questioned Jacob.

"Well yeah, we found her out in the woods on the reservation, she was meant to be on patrol, but we're not totally sure because none of us where in wolf form and she doesn't remember much from before," he told the room.

"So no links there either," Carlisle mused.

I tightened my grip around Edward's waist as I remembered the heated moment of passion the he and I had been enjoying when we had received the phone call from Carlisle just before Edward had fallen asleep.

I noticed a smile played around the corner of one side of Edward's mouth, as well as a new fire that burned deep in his eyes. He remembered too.

From across the room Jasper burst into laughter, though he was trying to suppress it, and failing.

Emmet shot Jasper a confused look then followed his gaze to Edward and I before he caught up, and then boomed with laughter. I stared at him angrily.

"Is she really that boring in the sack?" Emmet laughed even harder. Rosalie smacked him hard in the chest.

I hid my face in Edward's chest which vibrated softly with a low growl.

Everyone was silent again, deep in thought - Except for Emmet who continued to laugh whole-heartedly.

I continued to hide while I ran all the new information through in my mind. Still the answer was right in front of me, just begging for me to notice. I wanted so desperately to find answers but painful memories of Edward lying limply in my arms, grief stricken and so vulnerable kept flashing through my mind. Mental images of Edward crippled in pain under the vengeful stare of Jane attempted to push their way to the front of my mind.

My breath caught. That was it! The answer that had been eluding me, it _was_ right in front of my face the whole time! Why hadn't I thought of that sooner?

"Bella?" Edward asked as he appeared in front of me, his eyes scrutinizing my face. "What is it? What's wrong?"

I couldn't believe it, it made perfect sense!

"Bella! Please talk to me!"

"I-I think I just worked it out…" I told him, still stunned.

I felt everyone's attention from around the room on me. Even Emmet stopped laughing madly.

I looked into Edward's perplexed eyes. "Edward we've been going about this entirely the wrong way. What if the cause of all this…what if it wasn't something, but someone?"

Edward's eyes opened wide as he followed.

"The Volturi," I said weakly. Everyone was silent, I couldn't even hear them breathing. "What if it's another vampire?" I continued, more for my own benefit than anyone else's. "What if the Volturi found a new member of their guard? Someone with an ability, one like Jasper's. Someone who could put others to sleep the way Jasper affected others moods. We embarrassed them and threatened their authority, how can we not expect retaliation?"

Everyone was silent for a brief moment.

"It's certainly possible," Carlisle deliberated. "Though, I would have thought that we would have noticed the scent an unfamiliar vampire lurking around Forks."

"Surely the dogs would have picked up a scent on the reservation," Rosalie added curtly.

"Nothing caught my attention in the area that we found Leah in," Jacob said, ignoring her rudeness. "But then again, Rosalie and Alice had been down to the reservation that day. If Leah or Sam had picked up on anything they would have thought that it had just been there scent."

"If you found a trail would you be able to distinguish if it was one of our scents or not?" Esme asked politely from her position on the couch.

"Sure, if it was Rosalie's I would be able to pick up the stench from a mile away." Jacob said casually, leaning against the door frame.

Rosalie hissed at him from across the room then Reneesme picked up a doll and hit her square in the forehead with it.

"Be nice," she scolded in her musical voice, waving her finger at Rosalie's nose.

The room erupted into a tense laughter, the loudest coming from Emmet and Jacob. Rosalie shot a disgusted look in Emmet's direction but he continued to laugh anyway. The edgy atmosphere lightened just a tiny bit.

After a few moments Carlisle cleared his throat quietly and everyone fell silent again.

"Would you be able to send someone out to try and hunt for an unfamiliar scent on the reservation?" Carlisle asked turning to Jacob again.

"Yeah, sure thing doc," he answered before turning and loping out into the forest once more.

"Even if they do find a scent on the reservation, that still doesn't explain how Edward went under," Alice pointed out.

"I haven't been on the reservation for weeks," Edward said, before turning back to me and running his fingers through my hair. His eyes were on mine but were distant and deep in thought. My own thoughts were centred only on him. Even now I found it hard to concentrate on anything while wrapped so tightly in his arms. I was distracted by the way the golden tint in his eyes seemed to swim like liquid, and the small creases that appeared on his brow as his mind travelled at a hundred miles an hour and they way his arms held strongly around my waist. I was in the middle of admiring the way his perfectly chiselled chest rose and fell with every intake of breath when suddenly his entire body went rigid. My eyes automatically focused in on his, they had opened wide with a new knowledge.

His eyes then flicked quickly to the window, scanning the trees across the lawn.

"What is it, Edward?" I asked, following his line of sight but seeing nothing of consequence.

His eyes moved swiftly back to mine.

"It's here." He said in alarm. "The scent, it must be here."

I questioned him with my eyes, I wasn't sure I understood.

He turned to Rosalie. "They must have found us here. It makes sense. You and I were decorating alone here for almost a week. This vampire - if that's what it is - could have easily followed us back to Forks. Like Carlisle said, we would have almost definitely picked up a scent around the house back in Forks. Perhaps they caught your scent again and followed it to the reservation. That would definitely form a link between the three cases."

Everyone looked to Carlisle again.

"It's definitely possible," he agreed.

"We should search the area," Edward half ordered, loosening his grip around my waist and turning towards the door.

"Wait," I said, catching him by the front of the shirt. "We should go in peers, just in case. If they're still out there, then we don't know what they could be capable of. They've already made it fairly clear that they're not out to make friends."

Edward nodded, he may not have agreed but he knew better than to argue.

"Rosalie and Esme, could you stay here with Reneesme?" I asked. Reneesme turned and made the cutest grumpy face you could ever imagine at me. "We won't be far," I comforted her, "and we won't be long."

Alice and Jasper stood up. "We'll go north," Jasper offered.

"I ran south earlier, that's where I met Jacob," I told them. "There's nothing that way."

"Ok, Emmet and I will search east if you and Edward go west," Carlisle instructed. "Try and meet up with Jacob if you can, he'll be in wolf form and Edward will be the only one able to communicate with him."

Edward stiffly nodded once before taking my hand and leading me swiftly out the door.


	4. Dartmouth

**A/N: Hey guys, thanks to everyone who took the time to read this, and I am soo very sorry it's taken so long. I put off updating until I could get a beta to look over the next few chapters and sort out what needs to be fixed. Unfortuanely, I've been through 3 different Beta's in the last 2 months. Each one has** **had to give up due to circumstances out of thier control. (If one of you are reading this - thanks so much for you're help so far, it really was appreciated.) Anyway, I promise that updates will come a _lot_ faster once I get a solid Beta, but for now I'll do the best I can. One more thing - thank you so much for all those people who took the time to review on the last 3 chapters. You really have no idea how much a good review can motivate a writer. So for everyone reading this now please please please review once you've finished. Even if it is just to say that the story sucks and i should stop writing, because if you don't tell me then I'll never know.**

Dartmouth

It didn't take long for Carlisle to cross the path of the new scent.

Edward and I had only been searching for less than a minute when he suddenly drew to a halt.

"Carlisle has found something," He told me, gazing to the east in the direction that Carlisle thoughts must have been coming from. His brow furrowed slightly. "The trail is quite close to the house."

The knot in my stomach tightened again. "Vampire?" I asked him in a weak voice that was barely an audible whisper.

He simply nodded his head once, his attention still drawn in the direction of Carlisle's voice. I hated it when I was right.

I moved to position myself in the only place I felt safe, Edward's arms. I put my head into his chest, wanting to block out the rest of the world.

"We _are_ going to be ok," Edward tried to reassure me, but I heard no strength in his voice. No conviction. He was just as afraid as I was. I didn't want to look into his eyes, knowing that I wouldn't be able to find the reassurance there that I needed.

It took only a few minutes for Jacob to confirm - through Edward - to the rest of the group that the scent Embry had found a few miles from the boundary around the reservation was in fact the same as the one that Carlisle and Emmet had located.

"What do we do now?" Alice asked, as her and Jasper joined the rest of the family around the point where the scent came nearest to our house, only a few hundred metres from the western end of the large garden that surrounded the building.

"He was just out of my range," Edward informed us all with darkness in his eyes while taking another deep, unnecessary breath in. After seeing my puzzled expression he added. "For an unfamiliar voice my range is more limited. He would have been just out of ear shot for me to notice his thoughts if I wasn't trying to find them." He reminded me, misreading my confusion.

"Surely that's just coincidence?" Jasper said, a little knocked back.

"It's possible," Edward said unbelievingly.

"Wait," I interrupted. "You said _he_?"

Edward's face turned to mine blankly for a moment, before breaking into a soft, breath taking smile of total adoration. His eyes held tenderly to mine. "Sometimes I forget how new you are to all of this," he said, running his hand gently down my cheek. "It will take time before you are able to distinguish the subtle difference between a male and female scent."

I inhaled deeply, letting the scent fill my head. It had the sweet base, the same way ever vampire smelt but had an underlay of something old, almost musty. Perhaps it was just the smell of the clothing he had been wearing at the time, I thought to myself. There were other tones to the scent, tones I didn't recognise, smells I had never experienced before. Perhaps one of these was the distinguishing feature between the sexes. The smell of testosterone maybe, not that I had any idea what testosterone smelt like. I imagined sweat and aftershave but knew this was just a stereotype. I made a mental note to find out.

"I don't think that there is much that we can do at this point," Carlisle stated, answering Alice's original question and interrupting my thoughts.

"Surely we should search the area. Follow the scent and track him down," Jasper argued, a flare of excitement burned in his eyes.

"No," Carlisle answered sternly, placing his hand on Jasper's shoulder. "Bella was right before. The little we do know about this vampire's abilities shows us that he is a threat, one not to be taken lightly. Until we are able to acquire more information about him, I believe we should definitely be keeping our distance. For all we know he may have just stumbled upon us and has already moved on. In that case, cornering him could be a very dangerous move."

"But he followed us back to Forks. Surely that would mean we weren't just a stopover on his around the world trip," Emmet added sarcastically, always unopposed to the option that most suggested a fight.

"A problem that we should certainly keep in consideration. I'm not suggesting that we forget this ever happened, quite the contrary. But we must be intelligent about this. There's no use in rushing off and getting ourselves in unnecessary danger," Carlisle said in the authoritive tone that only he could manage. "You of all people should understand the implications of this vampire's ability and the damage he is possible of," he continued, gesturing towards Rosalie.

I pulled my body closer to Edward's side. I knew.

Emmet was immediately silenced, his eyes pulled in the direction of the house where Rosalie was when he thought no one was watching. It was just like him to consider this as a sign of weakness - showing concern for the one he loved. I shook my head slowly in amusement.

"What is it?" Edward asked, noticing my gesture.

"Ah, nothing. Maybe we should get back to the house. You know – and fill in Esme and Rosalie." I offered, letting Emmet off the hook. I gave him a subtle wink as we all turned and moved back out of the forest.

The next few days were largely uneventful. Jacob visited quite frequently, bringing Seth along with him because I wouldn't let him travel alone. Much to Rosalie's disgust, who had been hoping that Jake would be too frightened to leave the reservation. Carlisle was keeping himself busy with constant research, trying to find out everything and anything he could about our new vampire foe, though to no avail. He hit dead end after dead end.

"It's hard to keep tabs on a vampire," he explained to me one day, "most are just drifters, some are completely unknown – even to the Volturi – so any kind of information could be impossible to find." I tried to keep my distance from Carlisle, any form of reminder about the new threat to my family triggered the violent knotting sensation in the pit of my stomach.

When the rest of the family had arrived it had been less than seventy two hours since Edward, Reneesme and I had left Forks but Alice still insisted on spending every available moment with the three of us. Unfortunately the only activity she was really keen on was shopping.

"Alice, if you fill our closets anymore then we're going to have to get a bigger place!" I argued, but she was having none of it.

"Come on Bella! It's so much colder up here than it is in Forks. You want to blend in don't you?"

That got to me. Orientation week for Dartmouth was starting in only two days and I was as nervous as hell. I guess everyone is nervous before their first day at college, but my fears ran deeper than your normal everyday college student.

Blending in was something I most definitely wanted to do. I feared that the first few weeks were going to be hard enough as it is without the added pressure of prying eyes.

After my change I had been around humans quite a lot, but never more than one or two at a time – usually Charlie, Sue or Billie – and never for large amounts of time. Despite my strange ability at restraint I was always incredibly cautious - if I was to slip, even for a second, the results could be disastrous and people I truly loved could die. I couldn't help but wonder if I would be able to have the same restraint with total strangers. Could I be so controlled for so long with people that meant nothing to me? I had always taken extra precautions when I was around Charlie and the others; limiting my breathing, taking constant toilet breaks for fresh air, leaving as much space between me and them as possible unless absolutely necessary. But my options would be limited at Dartmouth. Crowded hallways and lecture halls would be a daily occurrence. I would be dealing with thousands of enticing heartbeats and delicious scents surrounding me for hours a day without release.

The thought sent venom flowing relentlessly in my mouth. I swallowed hard to dispel the taste and brought my hand up to cool the deep painful burning in my throat.

"What's wrong Bella?" Edward's alarmed voice came from above me. I realised that my entire body had become rigid, every muscle tightened and defensive. My jaw had clamped together and my breathing had stopped.

His hands were moving up and down my arms, attempting to loosen my stiff pose. I made a large conscious effort to make myself breathe again; the cool air dulled the fire a little - but not much.

I lifted my eyes to meet Edwards, they were wide and worried. I knew how mine would look – dark and raging. I closed them, not wanting him to see my moment of weakness. I took another deep breath to calm myself before opening my eyes again. His were still probing.

"I'm sorry, it's nothing," I reassured him. "Really." I added, when his face told me that he didn't believe me.

"Bella…" He said sternly. He didn't need to finish his sentence; I already knew what he was going to say. He hated it when I kept my thoughts from him.

"Uh… maybe we can just go shopping later or tomorrow or something," Alice said before retreating hastily from the room. For a moment I almost stopped her. At that point I could have done with a happy premonition of my first day at Dartmouth, just to put my mind at ease a tiny bit.

Edward waited until he heard her light footsteps disappear out the back door in the dining room before catching me around the waist and pulling me onto his lap as he sat on the large grey sofa.

"Bella please, tell me what you're thinking," he pleaded as he moved his hand down my cheek and cupped my face, pulling it towards his so that he could look into my eyes again.

"It's just that I'm a little nervous - about Monday. Really it's nothing," I told him again, making my voice strong and convincing.

"Bella love," his voice was soft and comforting. "If you're not ready, we can wait. You don't have to rush this."

"No, I'm just being pathetic." I shook my head softly. "Eventually I'm going to have to get on with my life. I can't keep putting this off. Sooner or later I'm going to have to stop running away and face up."

He kissed my forehead quickly before drawing back again. "You are _not_ being pathetic," he told me, sternly again. "You are stronger than you give yourself credit for, stronger than most vampires will ever be. _Never_ forget that."

He bent down and kissed me tenderly. It helped. I concentrated on his lips moving on mine. I tried to let him kiss away my worry.

Only when he drew back the spell was broken and the knot returned.

"Besides, I'll be with you every moment. I won't let anything happen to you," He said before kissing the tip of my nose.

"It's not me getting hurt that I'm worried about."

"If it becomes too much for you at any point then we can leave, you don't have to feel obligated."

"Thank you," I sighed, laying my head on his shoulder.

My thoughts returned to Dartmouth. Psychology was always a subject I had been interested in studying, even before I met Edward. Luckily for me it was one of the few subjects that Edward hadn't gotten around to getting a degree in yet – which I found strange, considering he had more of an advantage in the mind department than any other person in the world. Still it was something we could both do together, as a couple. I had also chosen a few English Literature papers to fill in spaces in my timetable. Edward had laughed when I had done this. According to him it had been a very obvious choice, one he found quite amusing.

"Can we talk about something else?" I whispered into his shoulder.

"Of course, what would you like to talk about?" He said, sort of detached as he ran his fingers through my hair.

"I don't know anything besides Monday…or the other thing," I said, enjoying his touch.

It seemed like he read my mind because the next instant his head bent down and his hand cradled my face.

"How about this?"He whispered; his lips only millimetres from mine. His breath blew around my face, I breathed it in heavily.

He lingered for a moment, teasing me. I shivered in anticipation. When our lips did finally touch it was with the lightest of pressures and then he drew back ever so slightly again. I pushed my face towards his seeking him, but he only allowed the kiss to last for a second before pulling back again. My hands gripped the back of his neck as I tried to pull him into me. He taunted me again by planting three very quick light kisses on my lips but pulled away, keeping his lips just separate from mine.

A low growl built in my chest, he chuckled softly in response.

I brought my hands up from his neck and tangled them deep in his hair, then using all the strength I had I pulled his mouth to mine and pushed him onto his back on the sofa. He put up no fight, but instead kissed me back with all of the passion and desire that I kissed him with. His hands ran down my neck and over my shoulders pulling me closer to him. Our mouths parted and his soft tongue met mine.

For once it was me who ended the kiss. I didn't want to, the moments before I did it seemed like I wouldn't be able to. But somewhere I found the strength. When I did pull away Edward simply moved his lips to my throat, almost breaking my resolve once again.

"Edward," I panted. "The family…Reneesme…" I managed to gasp out. Only the deep embarrassment I would feel if we got walked in on gave me will to stop.

His lips hesitated at my shoulder and he sighed heavily. I could almost sense his eyes rolling in his head. "Too much self-control," He complained to my skin before laying his head back against the cushion.

I gazed at the amazing man below me in disbelief for a few moments before the almost overwhelming desire to kiss him again nearly took over, his body teased me with the most exquisite type of torture. I ripped my eyes away from his and lay my head on his chest and listened to his heavy breathing gradually slow, running my hand across the perfect plains of his chest.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I know," I replied.

If my heart had still been beating it would have been pounding at a hundred miles an hour. I tried not to let the nervousness show on my face as I watched the movement from out of the windscreen, but I knew Edward would sense it anyway. I kept my eyes away from his as I surveyed the scenery. Hundreds of students flowed in and out of the entrance ways into the campus. Dartmouth is the smallest of all the Ivy League schools, with a roll of only 5,848, but that was still more than the entire population of Forks all condensed into 269 acres of campus. They didn't move in groups like I was used to at high school. Instead the crowd was mainly pairs and singles that formed a steady and unrelenting stream of human bodies.

Edward's hand gripped mine lightly and without being conscious of the movement I met his eyes as they probed mine silently.

I took in a deep breath of the clean air inside the car. "Ok, let's get this over with," I said bravely forcing a smile.

Moving at human speed Edward stepped slowly out of the car and made his way around to my door. I noticed a few passersby lift their heads at the sight of him. One petite girl with fiery red hair actually stopped in her tracks and stared; I smiled to myself as I remembered the first time I had laid eyes on Edward's glorious face.

"Can I take your books Mrs Cullen?" Edward's brilliant voice came from beside me as he opened my door for me.

I took his hand as he pulled me out of the car and into his arms, gathering my text books under his arm. I waited a moment before inhaling deeply again. His smell was just as enticing as ever, it filled my head as other mouth watering scents burned their way down my throat. I swallowed, trying to suppress the fire, but it only dulled it minutely. I felt Edward's soft lips on my forehead. They lingered there for a long time and when he pulled back I saw dazzling smile spread broadly across his face.

"What?" I asked when my brain was able to comprehend words once more.

He leant downwards again to rest his forehead on mine this time.

"They're all incredibly jealous of me right now," he told me, the smile was evident even in his voice. I smiled too, thinking of the small girl with the red hair who was probably still frozen to the spot staring. I was the one to be envious of.

I stretched up on my toes and kissed him quickly. He caught my left hand securely in his, gently stroking my ring with his finger.

"We're going to be late you know," he laughed.

I nodded to his chest before turning to face the entranceway of the 1820s Colonial style Wentworth building. I had already memorised the floor plan of the entire campus, learning the quickest path between my lectures as well as escape routes, just in case. What I hadn't been prepared for was how much attention we were drawing. I had expected people to stare, but not this much. More than one person had stopped in their tracks now, when their gaze had fallen upon us. I noticed in particular the red haired girl look down uncomfortably as our eyes met and her foot shuffled uncomfortably with a stone that lay at her feet. I flashed her a sympathetic smile as we passed, remembering that I had once been in her position – awe struck by vampire beauty.

Unfortunately, the entranceway Edward and I had to take looked like it was the busiest. I was suddenly glad for the cold day; I pulled the long sleeves of my jacket down to cover my hands in case anyone happened to touch my skin while we were making our way inside. I took one more deep breath in then stopped breathing completely. At least I didn't have to worry about concentrating on moving at human speed, as the crowds were almost shoulder to shoulder as we entered the first corridor. Edward's arm wrapped protectively around my waist as we joined the slow moving flow of rush hour traffic. With everyone packed in so tightly no one seemed to notice us as much, which was good as it made me feel even more nervous when I could feel their gaze on me.

Our first lecture – Psyc 101 – was on the second floor in the Wentworth building, and as expected most students chose the elevators rather than stairs option which meant more breathing room as we slowly climbed the staircase.

"How are you feeling?" Edward asked as we were halfway up the first flight.

"So far so good," I answered truthfully. The noisy corridors had muffled the alluring sounds of heartbeats and as long as I fought the temptation to breath it was easier to ignore the soft pulse running through warm skin only centimetres away from my own. The fire still raged in my throat but it was endurable.

When we reached the door to our first lecture theatre the crowds had thinned quite a lot but it looked and sounded like Psyc 101 was quite a popular subject. We entered from the top left entrance and quickly chose a seat in the empty back row. The room was divided into three large seating lines, each line held eighteen rows that were around ten seats wide. They were divided by two large staircased aisles that ran up from the front stage to the back entrances where we sat. There were also two more entrances at the bottom of the staircases that seemed like the more popular entrance point. Eventually the flocks of students entering the room subsided but our row remained empty. Only two people occupied the row in front of us, two boys who looked as though they had both suffered a very sleepless night, or were both recovering from an illness. One of them leaned sleepily against the wall while the other looked as though he might actually have been asleep with his head rested on the table, only his shaky breathing gave him away. I took the calculated risk and inhaled again, testing myself. The familiar burn flared again, only this time it didn't blaze so strongly. Mixed in with the delicious scent of human blood was the abrasive unnatural sting of ethanol. My face curled up in response, the smell of alcohol infused blood was anything but enticing.

I heard Edward laugh lightly beside me and suddenly his lips were at my ear.

"I'm willing to bet he never considered that getting drunk last night would greatly decrease his chances of being eaten today," he chuckled. I looked back at the dark haired boy who was leaning against the wall. At this point I don't think he would have minded being killed so much, he looked like hell. His face was pale, almost green and he held his head gingerly as though he was trying to stop the pounding. Almost on queue his breathing quickened and his other hand wrapped tightly around his stomach. I was very surprised he had managed to get out of bed at all that morning.

"Perhaps I should have considered turning up drunk to my first day at school in Forks. Things might have gone a lot smoother," I said in the most serious voice I could manage. Edward peered at me with bulging eyes; a look of absolute shock planted itself on his beautiful face. I couldn't help but laugh this time.

Only once had I ever experimented with alcohol, back in Phoenix. My best friend at the time, Hayley, and I had found an open vodka bottle in her kitchen cabinet. After a large amount of peer pressure by Hayley, she and I had finished off almost half the bottle. We were still on our last drinks when her parents came home early and caught us, an act which had ended in me being grounded until I was thirty by my almost hysterical mother. To top it off I had fallen over, ripping my favourite pair of jeans and cutting up my knee, proving that intoxication should be avoided like the plague by the already uncoordinated. Needless to say, I had never felt the need to drink again.

Edward shook his head softly and rolled his eyes as I continued to laugh to myself. Shortly after, the lecturer cleared his throat over the small microphone he had clipped to the front of his shirt bringing silence over the students.

The rest of the hour was a piece of cake. After the initial introduction stage was over the lecturer talked for the rest of the time about the founding members of psychology, occasionally pointing to a slide on the projector screen or referring to a chapter in our text books. A few times he would ask a question to someone in the audience, but with the large amount of people in the theatre his attention never fell directly onto Edward or me.

I watched as the other students scribbled profusely on their notepads, copying diagrams or page references. I had no need for notes as I would easily be able to remember every word of the lecture, so instead I sat back in my seat listening lazily to the lecturer's loud voice and enjoying Edward touch as his fingertips weaved patterns around my hand and ring.

I was almost sad to leave when the hour was up, I was so relaxed that I didn't want to move. Also I knew that as soon as I stepped away from the two hungover guys in front of me the burning sensation was going to return as we battled our way through the crowded halls again.

We had two more lectures that day, English Lit and Statistics. Statistics was our only lecture that afternoon, and one that Alice would be joining us in as part of her business degree. Alice and Jasper hadn't been planning on starting at Dartmouth until the second Trimester but there seemed like no point in waiting now that they were in New Hampshire early. Rosalie and Emmet had decided to skip College this time around, Rosalie was going to try a more 'hands on approach' by launching her and Alice's fashion label - hence Alice's desire for the business degree. Whereas, Emmet was throwing around ideas like pro-football player and international heavy weight boxing. Though we all knew this would be impossible as he would risk exposure, Edward seemed concerned at how his thoughts appeared to be growing more and more enticed by the idea. Meanwhile Esme was going through the motions of establishing herself as an interior designer while Carlisle was instated as Chief of Medicine at the local hospital.

The Lit lecture flew by almost as painlessly as Psyc had. The class and lecture theatre was a lot smaller than the previous one which meant that there was not as much breathing space as had been allowed in the larger lecture hall.

I felt sorry for the timid blonde girl who had been forced to sit at the end of mine and Edward's row. Though we had not acted at all hostile towards her, she still seemed very uncomfortable being seated where she was. I noticed the way she let her hair fan out over her face creating a curtain between us – the same way I had back at Fork's High School when Edward had made me feel uncomfortable all those years ago.

"Don't take it personally," Edward had tried to comfort me, "we intimidate her, that's all."

I made a mental note to try and make her feel more welcome in tomorrow's lecture if she chose to sit near us again – which was unlikely.

"So what now?" I asked, as I watched the shy blonde girl hastily pick up her text books and notes before retreating out the exit.

"Well we have a few hours to kill before our final lecture and I was thinking that I could maybe show you something?" He said in an odd tone. His eye's gleaming with excitement the same way they had a week ago when we had arrived at our new home.

"What is it?" I asked, sounding unintentionally more sceptical than excited.

"Well it's a surprise," The gleam faded slightly in his eyes as he appraised mine, "Unless there's something else that you would rather do?"

"No, of course not! What is it?" I asked, trying to infuse my tone with all the enthusiasm I could muster.

"Are you sure? I know how you hate surprises," _his_ tone was sceptical this time.

"Of course I'm sure," I got to my feet, pulling him up with me. The room had almost emptied now. "So where's the surprise?"

He smiled his crooked smile down at me. "Patience. We have to get outside first," he explained. I was happy to hear the enthusiasm return to his voice again.

We took the long route downstairs, but it was also the route with the least amount of people and minimal crowds. I patiently bit my tongue as Edward led me out the west side of the Washington building and across the large campus. It was getting close to lunch time so many students were sitting around outside looking over textbooks and snacking on food which meant we were forced to move along at tedious human speed. The constant stares also meant that I had to remember all the small things like fidgeting and unco-ordination, but eventually we arrived at the far end of the staff parking lot on the very southern side of campus.

"So what are we doing here?" I finally asked, looking out over the scenic reserve that backed on to this side of the parking lot. The Connecticut River encircled the eastern side of campus and from what I could tell wound its way between the reserve and Mount Moosilauke, beyond which laid the White Mountains Region. From where we stood you could see the top of the snow capped mountains as they stood high above the tree line.

Surely a hunting trip wasn't what he had planned.

"You'll see when we get there," he said, with a smile. "Come on, this way."

He led me into the reserve for a few metres before taking off running. The reserve started of clear and flat but very quickly became dense and rose steadily upwards. We were headed directly towards Mount Moosilauke and with every metre I could feel the temperature around me drop. The wind was icy and wet; it left my skin and clothes damp and cold. It didn't take long before I heard the rush of water over rocks and moments later the wide Connecticut River came into view. It was deep and wide, even the colour was a royal blue which contrasted with its bushy green surroundings. At first I thought that maybe we were going to jump the river but Edward's pace slowed then he turned and moved south along the river bank. We were barely moving faster than human running pace through the dense bush and after a few more metres we came to an opening in the undergrowth. It was a small stony bank on the inside of a bend in the river. There were no trees only large flat boulders that were covered in moss and light sprinklings of snow.

Just like all the other secret locations Edward had shown me it was astoundingly beautiful. Even the air was crisp and pure, completely unpolluted by the outside world. The water here was calm and rolled in tiny rippled against spongy rocks.

Edward was a metre ahead of me, appraising my reaction. "I thought you might like a place close by where you could take a break," he shrugged casually, "you know, in case everything gets to be too much."

I smiled. "You spoil me you know," I told him. I walked over to where he was standing, picking a moss-free rock and sitting down. I didn't think Alice would be too impressed if I went back to campus with a stain on my new jeans.

Edward pulled his coat off and laid it down next to me.

"How do you mean?" He asked puzzled, as he sat crossed-legged on the jacket facing me. "This didn't cost me a thing. Usually you only complain when I spend money," he laughed lightly at his joke.

"Only because you shouldn't, and I'm not complaining," I said indignantly, placing my hand on his thigh. "You spoil me with your kindness and your sensitivity and your thoughtfulness. Sometimes I wonder if you have time to look after you."

He took my hand from his thigh and entangled my fingers in his.

"Knowing that you are happy makes me happy Bella, you know that," he stated simply, his intense eyes burned through me.

I nodded, unable to speak for a moment as he dazzled me. "I know, but there must be other things that make you happy, things other than me. Don't get me wrong, you can't imagine how…" I struggled with the word, "how, incredibly wonderful it feels to know that I am the centre of your universe, but I know that if I were you, that I would want more."

He shook his head slowly. "How could I want more when I already have everything?"

"You give me so much. A house, a life, expensive gifts, even small things like this place – you can't imagine how much the little things mean to me. I just want you to have that too. Only I don't know what to give you because you never ask for anything," I couldn't find the words to describe it properly. I didn't want to buy him a gift or anything like that, what I wanted for him was much more.

"Don't you realise Bella? You give me so much, every day. You gave me a purpose, you gave me a daughter and you give me unconditional love. What more could I ask for?" The side of his lips pulled up into a cheeky crooked smile. "I already have a really cool car." I couldn't help but smile in response. I admitted silent defeat. I knew in my head what I wanted I just couldn't put it into words. I looked down at our hands twisted together. My stunning golden wedding band stood out blatantly against our ivory skin.

"What's this really about?" Edward asked from in front of me, scepticism and worry deep in his voice. I knew what had brought it on, my insecure feelings at not being enough for him had reared its ugly head again, though I could never tell him that.

"It's nothing," I said as casually as possible. I meet his eyes again with my own and tried to use them to convince him of the lie. He opened his mouth to speak, I knew what was coming. He hated it when I didn't tell him what I was thinking. "Honestly, it just sort of came out. Forget it ok." I used the only weapon I had against him, my eyes. I pleaded with him softly and after a few seconds I could see his surrender.

"So how did you find this place anyway?" I asked attempting to change the subject.

"I used to spend my spare time here the last time I attended Dartmouth," he motioned towards a large pine on the edge of the bank. "My name is carved into the base of that tree."

I peered over in the direction he gestured and sure enough there were the initials 'E.C' carved in an elegant font in the trees aged bark.

"You've studied here before?" I asked shocked. I knew he had attended college before, a few times in fact. I just didn't realise that he had once been at this college.

"Dartmouth is where I began my medical career."

"Oh right, of course."

"It's changed a lot since I was here last. Strangely enough some of the people I studied with are now lecturers here, not that they would remember me though," he said in a distant kind of voice, he was reminiscing about the old days no doubt.

"There's so much of your life that I still don't know about," I commented sadly.

"None of its really that important," he shrugged.

"How can you say that? Everything about your life is important. Every experience made you into who you are," I argued.

He shook his head enthusiastically. "No, it made me into the person I was before I met you, before you changed me so completely."

"You think that's true, but I can see that it isn't. I want to know everything there is to know about you, past and present."

"Believe me. Old Edward is defiantly someone you wouldn't like," he said, a dark edge coming to his voice.

"I beg to differ. I would love you no matter what. Because you have and will always be you," I squeezed his hands gently.

"I like to think that I have nothing in common with the person I used to be. I was a monster," he spoke the last word with such hatred that it took me aback. His beautiful eyes grew darker and his teeth ground together.

"You were never a monster!" I said angrily. The word had always struck a nerve when used in reference to Edward. He was far from a monster. "I know you have done things in the past that you're not proud of, we all have, but that doesn't make you a monster. Edward, please."

He avoided my gaze, moving his eyes to the flowing river beside us. His teeth were still tightly clamped together.

I sighed. "When I was nine my best friend got given one of those mechanical troll things…a um, a Ferbie," Edward looked back to me now, he had the most confused expression on his face. I continued, "Anyway, I begged Renee for weeks to get me one, but she and Charlie had just broken up and money was tight, so she kept saying no. I was so jealous every time I saw my friend with hers and one day I stole it from her bag at school. She cried for days but no one ever expected that it was me. I felt so guilty that I had done it so I buried it in the back yard. Still to this day nobody knows that it was me who took it."

Edward was silent for a moment. He was looking at me like I had gone completely insane.

"Well the point of my story was that I never ever stole anything ever again, and I became a better person because of it. I'm not proud of it, but I wouldn't be me if I hadn't," I finished.

A smile pulled at the edge of Edward lips but his eyes remained tormented.

"Bella, you stole a doll," he said slightly amused. "I killed people." All amusement left his voice at this point.

"Bad people," I pointed out. "Bad people who had hurt other innocent people." I pulled a hand free from his and placed it on his cheek. "I don't believe for a second that you are, or ever have been a bad person. Let alone a monster." Our eyes connected for a long time as I tried to ease his pain. Eventually I climbed my way into his lap and wrapped my arms around him tightly. He held me just as closely as I held him.

"You are the most beautiful person I have ever met, both inside and out. I just wish that you could see it too. I want to know everything about your life. Can you not understand that?" I whispered softly to him.

He sighed. "Of course, I feel the same way about you in Phoenix. It's just hard to relive some of the choices I made. I don't necessarily regret them. I just wish I hadn't put myself in those positions in the first place."

Neither of us said anything for a long time after that. We just held each other and enjoyed the silence.

Eventually my excellent sense of time told me that our last lecture for the day would be drawing near. I lifted my head from Edward's shoulder and sighed.

"We should be getting back."

Edward nodded in response but then paused, a strange gleam coming to his eye. It made me happier to see him in a better mood.

"I was thinking maybe we could do his the old fashioned way," he said deviously.

"What do you me…"I didn't have a chance to finish before Edward picked me up and threw me onto his back.

I laughed happily as I wrapped my legs around his hips and my arms around his neck. Edward turned his head to kiss me before taking off through the dense bush.

**A/N: Review! Review! Review! Pleeeaaasssseee!!!!**


	5. Encounter

**A/N: I suck, I know. My updating has been crappy and I apologize profusely for those of you who actually take the time to read this. Life happened - work and family and blah blah blah. Well hopefully this makes up for some of it, I hope. **

**Please, please, please review. Not reviewing should be illegal. **

Encounter

When we made it back to campus Alice was already waiting for us at the edge of the staff parking lot. A huge smile spread generously across her adorable face. Edward slowed and I swung down from his back, claiming his hand in mine.

"Why are you so happy?" I asked curiously as we moved from out of the tree line and regained our human pace.

"This is Alice's first time at college," Edward informed me before Alice had the chance.

"Really?" I asked shocked. I assumed that all of the Cullen clan had attended college at some point during their existence, with me as the exception of course.

Alice shrugged casually at me while she bounced excitedly on her toes. "I had more important things to do."

Edward, reading the incomprehension on my face added respectfully, "The last time there was an opportunity for us to further our education Jasper was still very new to our lifestyle. Alice chose to stay by his side rather than attend." His voice dripped with admiration as Alice shrugged again.

"I didn't want to leave him. He was stronger than he thought, he just needed a bit of confidence. Anyway, if we don't hurry up then we're going to be late," she paused for a brief moment and her eyes became distant. "It's going to be a bit of a squeeze if we don't hurry."

We left straight away, moving as quickly as we could without arousing suspicion across the campus. Our final lecture was in the smallest of all the buildings at Dartmouth, located near the centre of the large property. Merely seconds after we had swept into the small theatre and taken our seats in the back row on the far right hand side, a group of around twenty students came bustling in through the door. They were all rushing to their seats, hoping not to be late to their first Stats lecture. Only in their haste the majority of them pushed roughly past each other giving the less aggressive ones very little room. Up until that point the room had been practically empty. The rows were shorter than the others, holding only five seats. Altogether the room would only seat about forty students and it was gradually filling. The back four rows held only us and three other students, two on the far side and one in the row in front of ours.

It was less than a minute before the lecturer walked in and called the room into silence. I moved in my seat leaning closer to Edward so that I could rest my head on his shoulder and settled in for another hour of easy learning. The lecturer cleared his throat and then began with introductions and expectations. The first few minutes, like the other lectures that day went by uneventfully – then everything changed dramatically.

I was in the middle of choosing the correct page from my text book when two things happened – Alice gasped and Edward became rigid.

I turned very quickly in my seat, forgetting the humans around me to look at Edward's face. Only I couldn't see his expression as he was turned towards Alice. Her eyes were distant and her body was stiff.

"What is it? What's wrong?" I asked instinctively, forgetting to lower my voice. Neither answered but both heads turned in unison to the door at the back row on the far side of the room. I followed their gaze but saw nothing.

In my peripheral vision I noticed the girl in the row in front of us turn to see what all the disturbance was about, but she looked away hastily after only a split second, colour flooding her cheeks in embarrassment. Edwards gaze had flicked from the door to the girl and their eyes had met. It must have been frightening for her, and I wasn't surprised that she had looked away so quickly. His eyes were wide and panicked, almost frantic. Alice's expression was much the same, though her eyes never left the door.

"What's going on?" I demanded in a horrified whisper so fast and so low that it wouldn't have been inaudible to human ears.

Without removing his eyes from across the room Edward hissed back to me, "Vampire."

It was times like these that I wished that I didn't have so much spare room in my mind to think. I would have only been another seven seconds before the vampire reached the door, but in that time I had already worked myself up into a worried mess. My quick mind had already explored every explanation and outcome possible. What was it that Alice had seen? Why was this vampire here of all places? Were they here for us? Did they even know we were here? If they did then what did they want? Did they mean us harm? What about the humans surrounding us? Where _they_ in danger? I was comforted very slightly with the knowledge that only the girl in front had noticed our strange behaviour and that it would take her a lot longer than us to process what she had seen.

Edward's arm wrapped around my waist securely from behind and a moment later I heard the quick and light footsteps approaching the door. The vampire's approach would have taken only a fraction of a second but to me it seemed to take hours. My eyes were fused to the exit as I expected to hear the final step he would take before pushing the door ajar - but the last footstep never came.

They had stopped only inches away from the door, on the opposite side to where we sat. That's when I heard it, the unmistakeable sound of a sharp intake of breath. The vampire inhaled deeply then I heard their weight shift. I was as frozen to the spot as they appeared to be. My eyes bearded down on the light wooden door as though my gaze alone could push it open or fuse it shut. The final outcome of this situation balanced on the point of a knife depending on their next move. The lives of the twenty-nine other students in this room could become forfeit in a matter of seconds.

An instant later I heard the vampire move again, their weight shifting once more. Then suddenly, they were running back in the direction they had come from.

My tense body instantly relaxed slightly as his lightning fast footsteps faded very hastily away into the distance until I could hear them no longer. I instinctively turned back to Edward. His expression was emotionless but his eyes were distant, seeking.

Alice stood slowly, her expression was composed, and I worked hard to make mine the same. I touched Edwards forearm and he lifted himself to his feet almost robotically, turning towards the nearest exit. We slipped out silently, I wasn't even sure if the lecturer noticed, but the instant I left the room the scent hit me. The small hallway outside the room was filled with the sweet scent, so fresh and strong. I breathed in the perfume once more to confirm my suspicion, it was very familiar to me and my perfect vampire mind recognised it immediately.

"It's him!" Alice and I both exclaimed simultaneously.

There was no mistaking it. The scent was identical to the one we had discovered in the forest by our home. This vampire was the one who had been threatening my family. I felt the sick feeling growing in the pit of my stomach again.

"Where has he gone Edward?" Alice questioned fearfully, a little bit too loudly considering there were still students less than ten metres away.

"South," he said reassuringly, though his voice was still on edge, "but I've lost his voice."

"We can't stay here," I said nervously, partly because of prying ears from the class room but mainly because I had the immediate need to get back to Reneesme and the others. South was in the opposite direction from our house but this knowledge only calmed my panic minutely.

Edward nodded and we all moved quickly towards the parking lot. The trip back to the house only took about three minutes but it was horribly long. The moment the car had come to a stop I was moving swiftly out of the passenger seat and into the front entranceway.

I found Reneesme, Emmett, Rosalie and Esme in the lounge. Emmett and Reneesme were sitting on the floor facing each other, while Rosalie and Esme watched amused. Emmett and Reneesme were in the middle of what looked like an epic arm wrestling match. Emmett had Reneesme's tiny hand gripped in his bear like one as she pushed his, with both hands, towards the carpet. He was obviously allowing Reneesme the upper hand, but he wasn't making it easy for her.

I was the first to enter the room, but only by split seconds. The others' relaxed postures instantly straightened as they read the concern on our faces. Esme's mouth dropped open to ask a question but Alice answered before she had a chance to speak it.

"We found him, we found the vampire."

I heard the others all inhale sharply in shock as I moved forward and swept Reneesme up off the carpet and sat her on my hip.

"Well actually, he found us. He was at Dartmouth. He almost walked into our lecture," Alice continued.

The next instant Carlisle and Jasper flashed down the staircase and into the room. Everyone turned to Carlisle.

"Could someone please explain to me what happened," he said in a calming voice, looking at Edward, Alice and I.

"I saw him coming, but my vision came too late," Alice began, she was calmer now in the presence of Carlisle. "I was so excited about my first class that I saw it only seconds before it happened. I saw him enter the room, but when he actually approached the door he must have caught our scent. He never came in. He just ran away."

"In your vision, did you see how he would have reacted?" Carlisle questioned her, obviously trying to ascertain how dangerous this new vampire could be.

"I saw him enter the room, but he wasn't expecting us so the future was blank after that. He hadn't had to make that decision yet so I don't know."

Carlisle nodded softly before turning to Edward. "What did you hear?"

"He was frightened mainly, as Alice said, we took him off guard. Before he reached our scent his thoughts were centred around his most recent hunt," Edward answered purposely. Carlisle raised an eyebrow.

Edward nodded in response to an unspoken question. "Yes human and very recently, a student."

I shuddered again. Someone was dead, someone had been murdered by this man. Violent and horribly vivid memories of my time in Volterra forced its way into my head, terrifying images of menacing and sadistic red eyes, hungry with brutal desire. The memories continued until I could almost hear the blood curdling screams that had come from deep within the Volturi's feeding chamber ringing in my ears. In front of my eyes I could see the look of pure terror on the small Latino woman's face as she gripped tightly to her rosary beads. I instinctively tightened my hold on Reneesme and shrunk closer to Edward, wanting to feel his comforting arms. Either he sensed my discomfort or he felt the same way, whichever - he moved to my side, putting Reneesme between us and pulling his arm tightly around my waist.

"Hmm, I had expected as much," Carlisle muttered thoughtfully. "His whereabouts was very peculiar however, what was his purpose at the school?"

"As far as I could tell… he was attending class."

Carlisle gazed out the window deliberating. "Strange, very strange indeed. The restraint required is not normally found, though not impossible…"

"He goes to Dartmouth!" I queried in shock. I could barely believe my ears. A human drinker being so involved in society, it was practically unheard of.

It was different for us, being around humans, we didn't rely on them as a source of nourishment so it was easier to ignore the allure of their blood. However, it would be a thousand times more difficult for a vampire who did drink human blood to control themselves as much as would be necessary to.

"He has been for quite a while," Edward stated with almost a tone of admiration in his voice.

"Is there anything else you can tell us?" Carlisle asked, turning his attention back to Edward now.

"Not a lot. His thoughts were mainly just confusion and fright as he left the campus. He was headed towards a location in the valley but he moved out of range before I could get an exact spot."

Carlisle nodded then turned to Alice.

"He's too indecisive at the moment to work out what his next move will be. I don't even think he's considered it himself," She told him without having to be asked.

"This could greatly complicate our situation," Carlisle announced to the room. "Aside from the fact that this vampire is _extremely _dangerous and has targeted this family already, we need to keep in mind that he is hunting humans in this area. I don't even need to explain the consequences if we were somehow implicated in this."

Nothing more was discussed after that. Everyone sat quietly wrapped in their own thoughts and fears.

I had to leave, I couldn't stand being in the room with everyone looking so uncomfortable. Moving was not a big thing to the Cullen's, but for me it was huge. I had already uprooted my life twice, both time's had been very painful emotionally. Only the move to New Hampshire had carried with it an air of excitement and adventure – it seemed right to be moving on with my life in such a positive way.

Again I felt like I had been dealt another bad hand, like the universe was laughing at me. A person was only allocated a certain amount of happiness in their lifetime and I had well and truly used mine up, now the universe was throwing a spanner in the works just to mess up my happy little reality.

I slipped out of Edward's grip and handed Reneesme gently back to Rosalie before swiftly exiting the lounge. My dejected feelings were steadily turning aggressive, and I didn't want the rest of the family to see me like that – especially Reneesme.

This was _his _fault, he was the one who had hurt my family. I didn't even know his name which just frustrated me further.

I stormed angrily along the hallway towards my room. First he had tracked us down in our own home and now he had even invaded our school. I hated him to my very core. I hated his pure existence. We had done nothing to him – I didn't even know what he looked like for Christ sake! How could someone I knew so very little about have so much influence over my life right now? All I had to focus my anger on was his poisonous scent which had infected my world.

As expected I heard Edward follow me seconds later. I didn't necessarily want him to though. I felt stupid and pathetic. The whole family was going through exactly what I was, only _I_ seemed to be the only one going to pieces over it. I was embarrassed at how I was acting and tried my best to calm down before he entered the room - easier said than done for a vampire unfortunately. Like every emotion I felt, the anger and hatred I had in me at that moment controlled everything. It was so powerful I felt like I could scream. So I wasn't surprised to see the anxious look on Edward's face as he pushed the door open.

I must have looked frightful. My hands were balled into fists at my sides, my arms even quivered slightly with the force of it. My jaw was tight and my teeth ground together. I turned away so that he couldn't see my raging expression but split seconds later he had scooped me up into a tight hug. He lifted my feet off of the ground and held me so tightly to his body that if breathing had been a necessity, I would have passed out. He wrapped his arms around my back and leaning his head down to rest on my shoulder. After a long embrace he turned his head and pressed his lips firmly into my neck, squeezing my waist as he did so.

The up side to my intense emotions was that they were very easily distracted. After a few moments all I could concentrate on was his strong arms around me, and his soft lips pressed to my skin. The resentment and anger was almost immediately dulled to a low burn in the back of my mind.

"Please believe me when I say that we _are _going to be ok," he pleaded softly with me. His arms loosened slightly so that my feet touched the ground and I was able to breathe enough to reply, but I didn't want to. I hated the word ok, it was never enough. To just be ok wasn't good enough for my family. Something I had picked up from Edward.

"I hate him," I answered after a few moments. My voice shook a little with the power of the emotion I was keeping at bay.

Edward released me a tiny bit further so that he could look at me directly in the face, my muscles had relaxed now but I was sure that my eyes gave me away. Edward could always read them perfectly.

"Why us? Why here? We've done nothing to him and look what he did – what he's done to you..." I broke off and shivered at the memory.

Edward's soft eyes shimmered sympathetically in front of mine. He took his arm from around my waist bringing it up my body to stroke my cheek gently.

"I'm fine Bella," he reminded me. Fine – another word that just wasn't sufficient. "I'm still here with you, safe and secure. He really hasn't caused us any lasting harm."

"Why are you defending him?" I snapped accusingly in a harsh tone that I couldn't control. I immediately regretted it but Edward seemed unfazed. His eyes remained soft and unharmed.

"I'm not, it's just… well, I got a good look into his mind today Bella, and I don't think we are being entirely fair to him. It is us who invaded his space after all. We must remember that _he_ was here first." I stared at him blankly, I hadn't thought of it that way. Up until today I had just assumed that he was just a drifter like most others of our kind. I hadn't yet considered that this was his home; Edward had said earlier that he had attended Dartmouth for quite a while after all. We were the intruders, not him. I felt stupid again.

"Earlier when he ran away, I could hear that he was genuinely afraid. He feared _us_ Bella. He was scared at the fact that we had taken away his safe place. He must have worked very hard to get to the point he is at – being able to be so close to humans despite the thirst – but today we took that away from him. We took away his sanctuary. I don't think he chose to attend Dartmouth simply because of the feeding possibilities," his face twisted a little, disgusted at a thought or a memory, "though he is getting plenty of opportunities. What I'm trying to say is that loneliness can cause a person to do powerful things, and I think Dartmouth was his way of coping with his loneliness." When Edward spoke his voice was soft and sympathetic. I could see it in his eyes as well, that he truly pitied this strange new vampire. The compassion he had astounded me. Edward truly was a beautiful person.

I was stunned into silence.

"Why did he hurt you?" I was finally able to ask. The way Edward had described him just didn't seem to fit with the things he had done. I wanted to pity him like Edward did. I didn't want to fear him. But he had still hurt the one I loved, and I couldn't move past that.

Edward's eyes hardened ever so slightly. "I don't know. It's definite that he recognised my scent outside the theatre today. My smell reminded him of Rosalie as well, but he gave no explanation as to why he did what he did. He was so overcome with fear that he didn't think of much else."

"What does that mean for us?" I asked, confused.

He shook his head softly. "Again, I'm not certain. I didn't get the chance to have a good enough look into his mind as to ascertain what it is that he wants from us. To react rashly and leave could be needless, as I can't tell for sure that he means us harm or that we should be afraid. By no means do I think we should ignore this, but at least now we know a bit more about where he is coming from and where his head is at. For the time being, I think the best thing to do would be to stay put but to continue to be extremely cautious," he was speaking with a desperate need to put my mind at ease, I could tell. Maybe in the past it might have worked, if only temporarily, but with an extended mind came more room to worry and fret. I wasn't able to ignore anything so easily anymore. I tried still, for his sake.

"I shouldn't have acted the way I did," I said looking down at his chest, unable to look him in the eyes through my shame at my earlier behaviour. I wished that I had half the benevolence and compassion that Edward possessed. "I'm sorry," I almost whispered.

He moved his hand from my hair and placed one finger under my chin, lifting my face to his. "Don't be, you had every right to be concerned and angry." Whether it was intentional or not, his eyes gazed hopefully into mine – like he was attempting to inject some happiness or relief into me. "Plus, you're amazingly cute when you're angry. It reminds me of when you were human, like a furious kitten." He laughed and pressed his lips firmly to my forehead then dropped his forehead to mine and sighed.

"Are you ready to go back to the others?" He asked, his eye appraising mine as he spoke. "We have some decisions to make."

"Yeah," I said after a moment.

Still embarrassed, I walked beside Edward back downstairs to the others. Reneesme was already waiting nervously by the lounge room door. The moment we reached her she flung her arms around me and I pulled her up into my arms.

When she came to eye level with me her tiny hand reached up and rested on my cheek. Her stunning large brown eyes gazed into mine and swum with intense concern.

"Mommy? Are you alright?" Her soft angelic voice questioned anxiously. In the back of my mind I thought of how I never heard her speak enough. Her voice was so astounding, her words and thoughts so pure – it seemed unfair that she so often kept them from the world.

She showed me an image of my face when I had left the room minutes ago. My features were harsh, almost tormented. I hadn't realised I had shown my emotions so visibly.

I took her hand from my cheek and held it in mine, dispersing the image from my vision.

"I'm ok darling," I reassured her. I couldn't help the temptation to kiss her lightly on the cheek. When I drew back I saw that her expression was puzzled again. "What is it honey?" I asked with anxiety.

"The man who hurt Dad and Aunty Rose," her eyes flashed quickly to the spot on Edward's forehead where his cut had long since disappeared, "Why did he do it?"

I forgot sometimes how intelligent Reneesme really was. Her mind was like a sponge that seemed to absorb everything around her, she really was more observant than we gave her credit for.

"I don't know baby," I tried to tell her as calmly as possible. The last thing I wanted was for her to feel afraid. I wanted to tell her that everything would be alright now and that we would all be safe, but I just didn't know that to be true. I wouldn't lie to her, I refused, she would see right through my lie - my efforts would be pointless and hurtful.

We gazed at each other for a few moments. Her large brown eyes probed mine gently and wordlessly while I tried my best to comfort her with my own. It was in that moment when the realisation dawned on me - I was the adult and she was my daughter. I hadn't exactly had the best role model of a mother when I was growing up, but one thing I had never doubted was Renee's strength. Never once had I felt unsafe in her presence, despite her immaturity and harebrained antics. She would have given her life to keep me safe and I knew that. I only hoped that Reneesme realised that about me too. I had to put all of my worries and fears away and concentrate on being the pillar of strength that a mother should be, that Reneesme needed me to be. Something in her eyes told me that she believed I could.

I sighed once and finally drew my eyes away from hers, setting my jaw determinedly and asked the same question that had been asked so often lately, in a newly empowered voice.

"What do we do now?"

The answer came in a form that most definitely shocked me. I turned to see Alice's glowing face shinning with a glorious smile and she answered with a tone to match.

"It's going to be sunny tomorrow," she said gleefully.

**A/N: Please, please, please review. You'll make my day! **


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